Those Who Rule Over Dragons
by ShadowWolf Zero
Summary: Everyone has their heroes whether fictional or real. But what happens when Naruto meets one of his heroes and discovers that one of his most cherished tales is less of a fantasy story and more of a legend. Slight Naruto and Legend of Dragoons Crossover. Pairing is NaruHina.
1. Chapter 1

Those who rule over dragons

Summary: Everyone has their heroes whether fictional or real. But what happens when Naruto meets one of his heroes and discovers that one of his most cherished tales is less of a fantasy story and more of a legend. Naruto and Legend of Dragoons Crossover. Pairing is NaruHina.

Author's note: I have wanted to write this story for a long time and had actually begun working on the plot back when I was writing Whirlpool's Rebirth. But due to the fact that Legends of the Dragoon was and still is my favorite RPG, I didn't begin working on it till I was sure that I had enough experience writing fanfics to insure that this was my best and would be my finale. I don't plan to write any more fanfics after this as I've begun to grow bored with fanfics. There just aren't any good one's showing up anymore. There are some good ones here and there but they are so few that it becomes more of a hassle to find good stories. So here is the first chapter to what I hope is the best fanfic I've written so far.

**WARNING/IMPORTANT INFO **

I will not be writing harems, super powerful Naruto, and the Nine tails will be little more than a plot device. Don't like it! Then read something else! You give me any suggestions related to the above, you better block communications between us. I have been kind in the past, but I won't anymore. You can either deal with the fact that this is MY fanfic, and I will write the way I want to. Or… you can prepare to be metaphorically torn a new asshole. I'm writing for a select group of readers and no one else. On another note I don't own either Naruto or The Legend of Dragoons.

Chapter 1: Meeting a Hero

* * *

One would not normally associate a militaristic village such as Konoha to be peaceful. But with the civilians flowing through the streets to their different destinations, without worry, could only provide the image of serenity and calm. This image was only solidified by the children running through the streets laughing. Even the enlisted ninja recognized by their uniforms of navy blue matching long sleeved shirts and pants along with their olive green Kevlar vest and metal headbands passed through vigilant but relaxed.

One such ninja having recently graduated from the academy wore his head band proudly, fixing the blue cloth so that it held his spiky blonde hair out of his face and ensured that the metal was smudge free so that the leaf etched into it was not obscured. Having recently graduated, he had not yet earned the rank needed to wear the well known uniform his superiors wore. Instead he wore a baggy orange jacket and pants that had blue stripes running along his shoulders and the waist line of his pants.

His natural tan skin peaked out from the blue straps of his sandals and whiskered face. His face carried a fox like smile and his eyes appeared closed as if the smile on his face stretched out his skin. He lifted one of his lids to allow his blue eye to scope his surroundings and insure that he was going the right way.

Exiting the surrounding buildings, he continued walking towards a small park like bridge that hovered over a river and gave passage to the surrounding forest. Two people were already waiting on the bridge, a boy and a girl matching the blonde's age of twelve.

The girl had long hair that was a shade of bubble gum pink. Her red Chinese battle dress was sleeveless and only brought more attention to her pale skin, while said skin complimented her jade eyes. She wore a pair of light blue shorts and a pair of sandals similar to the blonde. A rectangular case was strapped to her right thigh, holding several sharp kunai just within reach of her outstretched arm. A head band showing that she was also an enlisted ninja was also present on her head, but unlike the blonde it was worn on top of her head like a hair band or cute ribbon.

The bubble gum haired girl sat on the bridge and stared dreamily at the boy leaning against the guard rails.

The boy had slightly less pale skin than the girl that sat across from him except he had black, onyx like eyes, and raven blue hair that was parted in the front with the help of his own head band. Just like the girl he had a kunai pouch strapped over his tan shorts and worn on the right side, a key indication that both were right handed. His short sleeved shirt was a dark shade of blue, high colared, and had an insignia of a circular fan with the top portion red and shaped like a crescent moon while the rest was white. Despite wearing clothes meant for summer, he wore bandages that traveled from his blue sandals up to his knees, just barely reaching his shorts, and grey arm warmers with blue lining on both ends.

As the blonde finally stepped onto the bridge, soft taps echoed and warned the two to his presence. The boy leaning against the guard rail ignored the blonde's presence except for a quick glance while the pink haired girl turned her attention to him and flashed an annoyed glare.

"You're late Naruto!"

Naruto's lips formed a pout. "I'm sorry Sakura but I overslept. And besides, Kakashi sensei isn't even here yet so what's the problem?"

His excuse and question did nothing to alleviate her annoyance. "Tch, you should have set your alarm clock. You knew our team was meeting here at ten and neither I nor Sasuke arrived late." As she finished her sentence and spoke of the raven haired boy, her tone took of adoration matching that of a school girl in love.

Naruto narrowed his eyes as he too looked towards Sasuke and watched as the last loyal Uchiha ignored Sakura.

Sasuke Uchiha had been the bane of all guys back in the academy. Being the top in his class in all subjects and coming from a clan that was not only respected by those inside the village but feared by those outside the village, it wasn't hard to understand why the girls fawned over him. The girl's adoration for him only became more prominent when he became distant from everyone after the massacre of his clan by the hands of his older brother.

Naruto Uzumaki, born outside of any known or famous clan, orphaned since he was old enough to think, and at the bottom of his class grade-wise, knew that someone like himself would always be overshadowed by Sasuke, something he hated and fought tooth and nail to turn around.

His joy from being placed on the same team as Sakura Haruno, his crush, had been extremely short lived when Sasuke had been added to the team. Ironic how his joy turned to sorrow while Sakura's sorrow had turned to joy by this fact.

Apparently tired of Naruto's glare pointed towards him, Sasuke glared back though his held no anger and leaned towards condescending.

"What are you looking at loser?"

Naruto's eyes went from a half lidded glare to fully wide, with teeth gritting that complimented his anger from the insult.

Sakura having noticed the two focused at one another decided to intervene.

"Naruto stop bothering Sasuke!"

And her idea of intervening was to scold Naruto and defend Sasuke. Naruto sputtered at having his crush immediately turn on him so quick. Though in the back of his mind he wasn't too surprised seeing as Sakura had a crush on Sasuke as well.

'What did I do?' he asked himself.

Fortunately for Naruto, Sakura's attention was soon turned to the arrival of their sensei.

"YOU'RE LATE!" she said to the Jonin ranked ninja that wore the military uniform along with a mask that covered his face from his nose and continued down his neck. His head band was worn much like his two male students except the left side of it was pulled down to cover his eye and helped his grey hair keep its gravity defying feature.

The bored look on Kakashi's face indicated that Sakura's yell didn't bother him and was cemented by the fact that he continued to hold up an orange book to his face with his knuckle cut off gloved hand.

"Hello Sakura, Naruto…. Sasuke. Ready to go get a mission today?"

Sakura growled at her sensei's dismissal of her declaration while Sasuke showed a little more interest. Naruto on the other hand returned to his energetic self.

"Yeah! We wasted enough time waiting on you sensei. Let's go!" he said before racing off towards the tower belonging to the leader of their village.

* * *

**Later that day.**

Naruto closed the door to his apartment, blocking the setting sun light from touching the wooden floor of his living room. The building itself was in good condition when one considered its origin, though the particular apartment could have used a woman's touch. Naruto put aside the thought of cleaning his home in favor of cleaning himself of the dirt and grime from the day's labor. He had striped himself of his clothes by the time he had made his way to his bathroom. Once he had set the water to a hot but not scalding temperature, he walked under the shower head and enjoyed the soothing downpour.

As he scrubbed himself down, Naruto couldn't help but lament on the day's events.

'The life of a ninja is exciting.' he thought to himself with sarcasm. 'Pulling weeds, walking dogs and manual labor is not what I signed up for! When are we going to get a real mission? When is Kakashi sensei going to teach us anything! Oh well. I'll just finish this shower and enjoy my prized possession.'

The thought of his prized possession caused him to take a brief glance through the still opened bathroom door and towards his bed. He returned his attention to the task of cleaning himself before he dried himself off and put on a pair of white button up pajamas and black night cap. Once fully dressed, Naruto made his way to the bed he had glanced to earlier but instead of laying down on top of it, he grabbed the bottom of the frame and dragged it over to the side two feet.

Afterwards he walked over to the section of the floor no longer hidden by his bed and preceded to lifting boards not nailed down. Reaching in with both hands, Naruto gave a grunt as he lifted a large leather covered book out of the hidden compartment and placed it on his bed. He quickly joined the book and smiled as he read over the title, The Legend of Dragoons.

The book had been a gift from the third Hokage for his birthday nearly five years ago. Like any child, Naruto had been upset to receive a gift that couldn't be played with. But due to the fact that he had rarely received gifts, he was grateful for it none the less. Initially he did not plan on reading the large tome like book, but after the Hokage had sat him down and began read the first chapter to him, he found himself drawn to the story.

The plot of the main hero returning to his home village after a journey of revenge, only to find it nearly destroyed and forced to infiltrate a prison in order to save his childhood friend intrigued Naruto's adventure hungering mind. The details used in the book and the description of the characters and places were so uncanny, that it almost seemed like the author had actually been present during the events of the story. Naruto had tried to find the name of the author, but the letters of the name itself had long been faded out.

After reading for nearly an hour, Naruto made to return the book to its hiding place. Before replacing the boards, he reached in one last time and pulled out an emerald sphere like stone that fit in the palm of his hand.

Thanks to the fear of the parents who knew of his tenant, the Nine-tails fox, he had been forced to play alone, during one of these times he had found the richly green stone, a shine from the corner of his eye. The stone held such a strong resemblance to the dragoon spirits from his book that he had decided to keep it. Someone who had seen the shine of the stone had made to take the stone from Naruto, thus the reason he hid it.

'It's just a story.'

Despite telling himself this, Naruto still wished the stone he kept held the same power as those in his book. The power to transform him into a legendary warrior, with wings that allowed him to soar across the sky, and hold dominion over dragons.

"It's just a story." He reminded himself.

With careful hands, Naruto placed the stone inside the floor before putting the boards back in their respective places. Afterwards he pulled the bed back to its original spot while ensuring that one of the legs held down the hidden compartment.

With a drawn out yawn, Naruto flopped onto his bed and closed his eyes.

* * *

**The Next Day**

"Another day, another lame ass mission." Naruto stated

For once since his start as a Genin of Konoha; Naruto left early. He didn't opt for another mission and left before Kakashi could even give out team building exercises.

His mood left him avoiding his home. Hunger seemed to be lacking. Naruto had no destination in mind nor could he think of an activity he wanted to take part in. So he simply walked around the village. Taking random twists and turns, Naruto eventually found himself at a park. The duck pond located near the middle, benches and tables randomly placed, and a play ground for kids. It eventually hit him that this was the same park that he found his green stone.

It was unlike him, but he chose to sit down on one of the many benches. His eyes soon moved across the park and watched the many people that were there. He saw kids playing, parents watching, and others simply relaxing. A young woman soon caught his attention. Her silver hair keeping his focus from moving towards anyone else.

Silver hair wasn't uncommon as many residents of the village had either grey hair despite their young age or white hair that gave a soft glow. But this woman's hair borderline platinum, almost shining from the light of the sun.

'Almost like…. nah, it's just a story.'

Despite his thoughts he couldn't help but continue to stare. She looked young, almost seventeen if he had to guess. She wore a light blue sleeveless kimono that stopped barely below her hips and a yellow obi tied around her waist. Tight white shorts barely hid the shape of her ass and teal sandals wrapped around her feet. She wore fitting arm and leg warmer that were blue with gold trimming on both ends. Finally resting snugly on her neck was a blue choker with gold stripes running down it.

Still unable to take his eyes off the girl, Naruto began focusing more on other aspects of her appearance. Her body was slim; skin a creamy tone and eyes were brown but held a red hue. A blue ribbon held the back of her hair into a high pony tail that curled down and reached down to her mid back, the bangs in the front caressing her eye brows while the strands on the side framed her face and stretched down to her chin. When the sun light touched her hair just right, it gave off a blue tint.

The woman turned towards Naruto and looked confused as she caught him staring. A blush covered his face in response before looking away and trying to act like he wasn't just caught. Taking a side long glance he saw the girl giggling. A second later the she playfully stuck out her tongue, causing Naruto to laugh.

'Wow she's just like….'

His eyes widened from where his thoughts were leading. He stared at the woman once more when her attention was elsewhere. His expression dumb founded.

'No. No that's impossible. But, she looks just like her.' Naruto thought as he recalled one of the pictures of the heroes he found at the back of his book.

'She's a perfect match for Meru, but how is that possible?'

He noticed a large travelers pack resting against the bench she was sitting on. A handle stuck out of the opening, what it was he could not tell, but he had a suspicion.

'I'm willing to bet my stone that's a hammer… what am I saying, it's just a story but…. she's a perfect match!'

His mind continued racing as he thought over everything, arguing whether a hero from his book, HIS hero, really existed and sat merely on the other side of the park.

A thought hit him. "My stone! Dragoon spirits are supposed to resonate with one another when their close. If she is Meru, IF she is, then she would also have hers.'

With that thought in mind Naruto walked away from the park. Once he was out of site he placed his middle and index fingers in a cross sign, summoning a clone.

"Go back to our apartment and get our stone. No matter what, don't stop for anything and bring it back here pronto!" he ordered his clone.

The clone gave a mock salute before racing off. After it was gone, Naruto made his way through the forest edge and chose a spot he could hide while spying on the possible Meru. Once more he was troubled.

'What if she doesn't have it anymore? What if I'm wrong about everything? She'll think I'm some creep. Forget about what she thinks. How am I supposed to approach her? The majority of people don't trust me as it is I don't need them thinking I'm some nut.'

"U-Um are y-y-you ok N-Naruto?"

He never thought a voice so soft would ever cause him to jump nor did he think someone so nervous could sneak up on him. But he was proven wrong on both ends. Turning around he saw the blushing form of one of his old classmates.

The twelve year old girl before him had dark, very dark, blue hair that was cut just short above her eyebrows except for the two bangs that framed the side of her face. A pale complexion did nothing to distract from the grey pupil-less eyes that her family were famous for though unlike her family hers seemed more of dull lavender. The proof of her graduation into becoming a kunoichi lay draped around her petite neck. A tan hooded-jacket, big enough to hide her figure, was fully zipped up just barely revealing the mesh shirt underneath. On the right and left shoulders were two red flames encircled by a yellow sphere and white fur could be found around the hem. She wore navy blue pants that ended a mere few inches after her knees and two kunai pouches were tightly strapped to her right thigh. The sandals on her feet wore nothing special, just the normal blues that most ninjas wore.

Hinata Hyuga had been a classmate of his. Her shy demeanor and unusual tics had caused Naruto to write her off as a "weirdo", oblivious to the crush she had for him.

* * *

She had seen him enter the park and chose to follow him. Though her choice in following border lined stalking from certain points of view, regardless she watched him from afar. Hinata noticed how Naruto seemed annoyed. His usual upbeat attitude was replaced by repressed loathing.

The fact that he chose to sit down instead of take part in any of the random activities at the park was proof enough that something was wrong. How she wished she had the courage to sit down next to him and resolve what was bothering him. Instead she watched him from afar.

A hint of jealously coursed through her as Naruto settled his vision on a particular girl. She watched as he simply stared on, his face morphing from pure interest to embarrassment when she caught him then curiosity when he returned to looking at the platinum haired girl. A look of shock crossed his face and she spent the next several minutes watching as he mentally contemplated something she was not privy to. Finally he left, and as she followed him she witnessed his creation of a shadow clone and the spot he hid himself in while spying on the young woman that held his attention.

It was obvious to her that something was bothering him about the girl. He was a frantic mess at the moment. So, despite her shyness, she moved towards him with the intent of helping anyway possible.

* * *

"Hey…" Naruto began but couldn't recall the girl's name.

Though a little crestfallen she reminded him. "H-Hinata."

"Hinata, um.. I'm ok." he lied.

"A-Are you s-sure?"

Naruto tried to act as if everything ok, but a nervous laugh and the look Hinata gave him in response let him know that she wasn't buying it. He noted that she seemed genuinely concerned; the thought of lying to her struck him the wrong way. At the same time telling her the truth wasn't an option either.

"I'm back boss." Naruto's shadow clone stated as it returned with his green stone.

A solution came to him as he accepted the stone.

"It's pretty." Hinata commented.

Naruto hadn't even noticed that the usually stuttering girl didn't even repeat a syllable as her attention laid solely on the object in his hand.

"Yeah. I'm looking for another stone just like it and I think that girl over there has it." he said while pointing to the Meru look alike.

'So that's what is bothering him.' Hinata thought to herself.

"T-Then why don't y-you ask her?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, feigning humor while he thought of a way around the question.

"I'm very protective of this stone and I don't want to exactly show this off for anyone who could possibly be a thief."

Understanding seemed to cross Hinata's blushing face. "I-If you would l-like… I-I could look inside her bag t-to s-s-see if she has one."

"Thanks but I don't think she's just going to let you look inside." Naruto stated

Two index fingers tapped themselves together as their owner tried to find her voice. "M-My family's special e-eyes allow u-us to see through o-o-objects."

A large smile spread from the middle of his face and nearly ended from cheek to cheek. The answer to his dilemma came in the form of this shy girl. He wanted to dance for joy, laugh, and even hug her. But he restrained himself, allowing only the smile on his face to represent his happiness.

"Really! That would be awesome. Please Hinata, please help me out!"

The blushing girl smiled from his excitement, nodding before performing the hand seals needed to activate her eyes' unique ability.

"Byakugan." A mere whisper of the word began the process of her eyes focusing; and the veins around them to bulge.

Her vision scanned over the contents of the platinum haired woman's traveler pack. Extra sets of clothes, some food wrapped away for later, a large war hammer approximately two feet wide and a foot in thickness; its handle reaching nearly five feet. Despite the bags large size Hinata could not find the stone Naruto was looking for. She had nearly given up when she noticed a sparkling blue just over the woman's heart. Focusing more on the area the aura emanated from, Hinata smiled as she found the stone.

The light surprised Hinata, how was it that the stone created such light. She could tell that it wasn't chakra, but she couldn't see it without her Byakugan. Without turning her head, she used her available three hundred and sixty degree vision to look towards the stone Naruto was carrying. To Hinata's surprise it too held an aura of its own, only it was green instead of blue.

"Well?" Naruto inquired impatiently.

Hinata snapped out of her daze. "S-Sorry. She does have it. B-But it is n-not in her bag. I-I-It's inside a pocket in h-her kimono t-top." She decided not to inform him of the strange glow the stones produced. It was something she herself didn't understand.

Naruto's excitement was evident from his shivering form.

"YES, HAHAHA! Thank you Hinata you have no clue what this means for me!"

He grabbed her hand, shaking it while smiling. "I owe you big time!"

Her eyes focused on her held hand, blushing while stuttering her response. "N-No, It's o-o-ok. I w-was just trying to h-help."

Naruto didn't accept that. "No really! Just name it. Whenever you need anything just let me know and I'll help." he said before laughing at the end.

"U-Um ok." Hinata weakly replied.

With that said, Naruto went back to spying on the woman he was certain was Meru. Hinata had stuck around for a few seconds before excusing herself. With Hinata gone, Naruto began plotting how to confront the platinum haired woman.

He needed to wait till either she moved to a secluded spot or the other occupants of the park left. Either way he needed the two of them to be alone so to not make a scene. Naruto waited nearly thirty minutes for an option to become available, fidgeting in his spot as his patience began to run thin. How he wished he had a way to pass time like the girl he spied on, merely reading her book, unaware of his presence.

Finally after what felt like hours the Meru look alike got up. Hefting up her pack, she made her way to one of the exits. Without hesitation Naruto followed. He waited till they were a decent distance from anyone before approaching her.

"Hey wait up!" Naruto shouted in order to catch the young woman's attention.

The woman stopped; a puzzled look on her face.

Recognition crossed her face. "Oh it's you." She said before giggling. "If you're wanting to ask me out on a date then I'm going to have to decline. You're a little too young for me."

Naruto nearly stumbled from the accusation. A blush forming on his cheeks, he quickly responded. "That's not what I was going to say." he said, slightly noting how light and playful her voice was.

The platinum haired girl giggled again from his exasperated face. "Oh. Then what did you want with me?" she asked coyly.

"Wellll I wanted to know your name among other things." he innocently stated.

"Heheh, sounds like you want to ask me out all the same, but if you really must know I'm Meru."

He couldn't help his outburst that left his mouth. "AHAH you are Meru!"

Meru took a step back, confused and surprised from his reaction.

"Wow there are so many things I want to ask you!" Naruto excitedly stated.

"Wait, hold up."

Naruto didn't pay any attention to her protest and continued to talk as he walked closer and closer. "Where are Dart and the others? How long ago did you guys fight Melbu Frahma, is this stone a dragoon spirit?"

Naruto received the answer to this last question as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the green stone. The mere second his stone was within sight it released a blinding emerald light. The stone in Meru's pocket resonated with his, releasing its own cerulean light.

Too focused on the light of his dragoon spirit, Naruto never noticed Meru's dissapearance till the illumanation faded away.

"It is. It really is a-" The rest of his sentence stuck in his mouth once he became aware of her dissapearance.

Panic settled in quickly. "Where'd she go!"

He frantically searched for any sign of where she went. No sign of her pack nor foot prints could be found. Without thinking Naruto dashed down the path leading away from the park, unaware of the very woman he was looking for floating several feet above, watching with twin beams of light protruding from her back, her pack slung over her shoulders.

"How does he know about me and the other dragoons? And more importantly, how did he get his hands on the Jade dragoon spirit?" Meru said as she slowly descended.

Looking towards the direction Naruto left, Meru came to a decision. "I guess I'll be staying here longer than I intended."

* * *

**Author's Note: **So for those of you who are familiar with how I write and are asking yourselves why am I using so much detail. That's because of the fact that I have to assume many of the people reading this story have no clue what The Legend of Dragoons is or what it's even about. So I had to describe Meru with such detail to give them an image, and because of this I had to be very descriptive throughout the rest of the chapter other wise there would have been a gap formed that confused people. Kind of like asking yourself if I went from being 22 to 12 in a fraction of a second. I plan to write this way throughout the rest of the story. Well I hope you have enjoyed this chapter and there is much more to come.


	2. Chapter 2:Revealations

Those Who Rule Over Dragons

Author's Note: I'm glad to see so many fans of Legend of dragoon reading this fanfic. I and my brother loved the game so much that we each had a copy; we were young back then and didn't take good care of our games, so we ended up swapping disks as we progressed through the game. Luckily enough PSN is now selling a downloadable copy of it.

A few things I want to specify about the fanfic itself. I will be skipping certain sections that contain canon like I did in Along Came a Symbiote. Now I'm not going to skip the Gaara fight, but the Tsunade retrieval arc might be skipped again and given a summary. My reason for doing this is simply because of not wanting to write canon, and I know that I can write it out to be different, but my ideology when writing fan fiction is if my initial change isn't linked or connected in some way to a specific event then I'm not changing it. For instance, Naruto becoming a dragoon shouldn't affect Zabuza, so he's still going to fight team seven. Here's another example; Naruto becomes arrogant from gaining the power of a dragoon, he begins to act snobbish to those around him, Hinata loses interest in him because of his new attitude. Those events can be linked back to Naruto being a dragoon (the initial change).

Chapter 2: Awakening

* * *

In a fenced garden next to a blinding white house, the Genin members of Team Seven could be seen yanking and tearing weeds from the ground. The day had reached its hottest point and with the sun directly over head allowed little shade to protect them from the heat. Sweat and dirt were common amongst the three Genin though this didn't seem to be on the minds of any.

Something was different about Naruto Uzumaki. That much the other members and sensei knew for certain. He hadn't bothered Sakura with his repetitive attempts at a date, picking fights with Sasuke no longer seemed to be a priority to him, and the current mission hadn't bothered Naruto in the least.

How he was able to unearth the roots of the weeds with a grin plastered to his face only puzzled them.

"DONE!" he excitedly yelled.

Kakashi looked down from his perch on the home's red roof. He scoped an eagle eye across the section Naruto was working on.

When the Jounin could not find any traces of the plant like pests he turned to Naruto before giving him a lazy thumb up. **(1)**

"Good job Naruto." his voice's dullness matching his thumb's attitude.

The dirt covered, smiling blonde quickly ran off to a corner of the fence before pulling up a brown back pack. That was another thing that changed about the hyperactive ninja. Where ever they went, he carried it with him; and the second he finished his portion of the mission, he would pull out the only content within the bag.

Naruto would pull out a thick, almost ancient looking book and read. He would actually read. This boggled the minds of the group of ninjas far more than anything else.

Unknown to them, Naruto also held his Jade dragoon spirit in his left pocket. Carrying his book and dragoon spirit became a habit after his encounter with Meru.

'The next time I see her, hopefully this will stop her from running off.'

Another habit Naruto had gained was using his spare time to search for the platinum haired woman. His vigilance impressed some of the shinobi and kunoichi who witnessed it. The irony carried by the fact that this constant look out was for one person alone completely escaped them.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura had finished their portion of the mission shortly after Naruto. With a lazy eye Kakashi deemed the mission a success and led his young team back towards the Hokage's tower.

'It's so quiet.' Sakura commented, turning her head towards Naruto who had positioned himself behind Kakashi.

The blonde mimicked his sensei as he continued to read his book, unsatisfied with the amount of time he had to enjoy his book before.

_The four made their way through the underground dragon's nest. After hours of cutting through excess waste and poison infected plant life, they found the center. The putrid smell of corpses and feces hit their nose, though this mattered little as they saw someone casually standing amidst the deformed den._

"_Who is this?" Lavitz asked._

_The person before them, clad in brown plate mail with yellow lining on his torso, green pants, a long sleeve shirt underneath, and a red travel cape draped on his shoulders raised an eyebrow at his fellow spear wielder amongst the new arrival._

"_Is that you, Lavitz? It's so ironic to find you venturing here!" he shouted from across the area._

_Lavitz took a step forward, using the decreased distance to better identify the man before them. "You are…Greham!"_

_Dart removed his hand from the handle of his sheathed sword. "Do you know him?"_

_Lavitz turned to Dart, his voice taking a tone of heated aggression. "I will never forget him! He used to be the head of the Second Knighthood of Basil… Greham!" Saying the name once more as he focused his rage on the owner. "The man who used to be my father's best man!"_

_Lavitz ran towards Greham, closing the distance between them while the others followed right behind him._

_Greham didn't move, instead allowing the angered man to get closer._

_Lavitz stopped a mere few feet before the target of his anger, the man's smile only angering him more._

"_Welcome, Lavitz. You have become a knight fulfilling the wishes of your late father, Servi."_

_Greham's words elicited a growl from Lavitz's throat and prompted him to step closer. _

"_Don't you ever mention my father's name!"_

_Greham chuckled as he shook his head. "Are you still carrying that grudge after more than a dozen years for my betrayal of your father?"_

"_That's not all!" Lavitz shouted "You betrayed King Albert! You betrayed every single person I know!"_

_Greham took mere steps to his left before addressing Lavitz again. "Is that the wrath of a patriotic knight, or a man full of vengeance?"_

_Lavitz spun his spear before brandishing it towards Greham. "Both!" He took step to his right, positioning himself in front the source of his rage. "Greham! I now get to avenge my father, who trusted you and died in vain!"_

_Once more Greham chuckled. " "Get revenge"….. huh? Try! See if you can truly best me and my newly obtained power!" _

_A green lighted emanated from Greham, causing the others to reach for their weapons in response._

"_Emerge! The power of the Dragon!"_

_The green light flashed brightly, blinding the group for a mere moment. When it ended, the group bore witness to Greham covered in green arcane armor, a set of filmed wings protruding from his back. His spear had transformed as well, the length of the staff had thickened, a guard covering the area ones hand held onto the weapon. The blade split into two, forming a U. _

"_You….You are a Dragoon!" Lavitz stated out of shock._

_From behind Lavitz, Rose shrugged her shoulders. "It shouldn't be a surprise. Only a Dragoon can manipulate a Dragon. Behind the Dragon, there should be…."_

_Several ground shaking quakes cut Rose's sentence short, as the dragon they sought took a defensive position next to Greham._

"_This is the power I obtained!" Greham stated, a sense of pride exuding from him._

_It was Rose's turn to become aggressive. "Obtaining that power is not an easy matter. You, where did you get the dragoon spirit?" _

_Greham gave a curious look towards Rose. "I'm amazed there is someone in Basil that knows about this. Fine! You too will know before you die!" _**(2)**

"NARUTO!"

"Who-what?" Naruto jerked up out of fright.

So caught up in his reading, Naruto never realized that he and the rest of his team had reached the Hokage tower.

He looked around the large rectangular room as people stared at him. Brown wood paneled floors and pale green walls made up the room, aside from that only two connected tables that formed a one hundred and twenty degree angle filled the room. Seated at the table were six individuals, four of which Naruto didn't recognize and deemed unnecessary to know. One of the two others was Iruka, wearing the Chuunin attire of ninja representing the village's military, his tan face bearing a scar across his nose and his dark brown hair pulled up into a spiky pony tail. Naruto's old teacher leveled a glare at him.

More importantly the other person seated was the Hokage, garbed in a disk shaped red hat with a space in the front occupied by a white triangle and the sign for fire centered within. Along with his customary hat, he wore a rose colored gown and a white haori over it, both reaching down to his ankles. An aged face gazed from the shadow of his hat; however his white goatee peeked out into the light.

The Chuunin in the room spoke once more. "Naruto you should pay attention during a mission report, more importantly when standing before the Hokage."

Naruto let out a snort. "As if you can call doing chores a mission. I mean really when we are going to start doing the important stuff?"

Iruka let out an aggravated sigh from his student's lack of respect. "We've been over this. You're team is still fresh out of the academy and will only take on D-rank missions. If we deem you ready, and that's a big IF, then you will receive a higher ranking mission."

Naruto gave his old teacher an annoyed glare. "Oh come on, cut the crap. We've been doing those chores for weeks." He stated, refusing to call the odd jobs missions. "We're ready! What was the point of going to the academy if all we're going to do is clean up other people's messes and find missing animals?"

Neither Sakura nor Sasuke backed him up, though they silently agreed with his statement. Their sensei was indifferent to the situation, choosing to be nose deep in his book than to either scold or support his student.

The aged voice of the Hokage came forth. "Naruto!" he said sternly. "It seems I have to explain to you what these duties are all about. Listen, everyday the village receives numerous requests, from babysitting….. to assassination." A second was taken to point to four unrolled scrolls, each with a letter on them from A to D, before continuing his lecture. "Each request is written down on these lists… and divided into an A,B,C,D ranking based on difficulty."

Pulling up the scroll with the letter D, the Hokage held it up for the Genin to see. "You recently became Genin. D-rank missions are perfect for you."

'Last night I had pork ramen, so miso sounds good for-'

"Are you even listening!" The Hokage shouted.

Naruto stirred from his thoughts, the last four minutes flying completely over his head. "Geez! All you do is give lectures. I'm not the trouble making brat you still think I am!" he said, pouting afterwards.

A smile crossed the Hokage's face. "Ok. If you want it that much…" His words catching the attention of all in the room. "I'll give you a C-rank mission."

* * *

**Later that day**

The moonlight reflected off her platinum hair, barely hiding her presence. Meru looked up to the spiraling tower that acted as the office for the village leader. Having seen various races' villages during her adventures Meru wasn't impressed. But she didn't come here to be impressed; she came to find out more about the new holder of the jade dragoon spirit.

She had tried a more simplistic approach to gaining information on Naruto such as asking around the village about him, but this had only given her negative results. Either he was described as a troublemaker or someone meant to be feared. She didn't understand the latter. Those who gave her warnings to stay away from him seemed hesitant and spoke vaguely of Naruto, as if saying too much would bring trouble to them.

So here she was, standing before the tower that served multiple purposes, but she was only here for one. The front doors were locked; however, she didn't need them. Light protruded from her back, taking the form of two luminescent wings pointing towards the ground. Transcending to the forth floor took her mere seconds, sending a pulse of magic to disrupt the seals guarding the window took even less time.

A smile crossed over her face as she crept through the building. 'Ninja, their so overrated. Would have expected some form of guards protecting this building considering all the secrets kept within this building.'

Once Meru found the room she was looking for she sent another pulse of magic. 'Just for precaution.'

Opening the door revealed a room full of filing cabinets containing information from tax forms to newly approved law forms. Her wings revealing themselves once more provided enough light to read. It took her a few minutes to find the cabinet containing the particular files she was looking for, but eventually she found the one containing the information of enlisted ninja. Unsurprisingly the section for U was sparse, containing barely over a few hand full of folders.

Opening the file for Naruto Uzumaki caused a brow to rise on Meru's face. "What the heck."

Information pertaining to Naruto's childhood had been blacked out. Where he was born at, his family, even the date had been covered in black marker. Anything pertaining to his origins had been insured that no eyes could see. Initially Meru wasn't interested in such information, but the fact that someone had decided to hide such information made her curious.

'I just wanted to see what kind of person the boy was, but now I want to do a…. little digging.'

* * *

**Five days later**

"Damn it!" yelled a frustrated blonde as he hit the ground.

Naruto scrambled to his feet before reattempting his new training regime. Applying chakra to his feet, he ran up the side of one of many trees that surrounded him. Thirty steps later and the grip of his feet provided by the chakra slipped and he used a kunai to slash a mark against the bark, adding onto the many other cuts present.

He repeated the process several more times before deciding to rest. The tired blonde walked up to another tree and pilfered through his pack, pulling out his beloved book. He found that by taking these breaks he cleared his mind, removing unnecessary frustrations and gave him a chance to read his book. But before he decided to read, he took a side long glance at the other training within the area.

Sasuke made better progress with the exercise at first. That was until Naruto had asked Sakura for advice, who had already completed the exercise. Now they were dead even in their race to the top of the tree.

Why had they been training so hard? It was thanks to the escalation of the mission. It had started out simple. Protect and escort a bridge builder back to his village. Naruto had been overjoyed for the new mission, that was until they met their client, an old drunk whose first instinct was to insult him. Then the fact that he froze when two rouge ninja ambushed them didn't make things any better. Salt was added to his wounded pride by the fact that it was Sasuke who saved him. Afterwards it was discovered that the person they were guarding was being hunted by hired ninja, paid for by the tyrant of his village.

Once they had made it to Tazuna's, the bridge builder, village they were attacked yet again. The ninja that came this time was stronger and even on par in strength with someone such as their sensei. The battle ended quickly, both sides retreated, thus the reason for their new training.

Despite pulling out his book to read Naruto put it back, finding his thoughts of the soon upcoming battle too distracting.

* * *

He ran towards the area that the bridge was being constructed, knowing that the day had come that his training would be put to use. The fact that their client's house had been invaded; the mother of the house being taken captive clued him in that the enemy ninja were ready. A quick saving of the women and Naruto ran off to where the real fight would be taking place.

Sure enough once he got there a thick mist could be seen covering the bridge. Climbing up the side of the bridge with his newly attained skill, Naruto peaked over to get a sense of the situation. He saw Sakura guarding their client, Kakashi fighting Zabuza, and Sasuke fighting the cleaver wielding swordsman's partner.

Naruto knew he couldn't help his sensei in his fight and from the look of things Sasuke needed his help more. The person Sasuke was fighting had long black hair. His bangs drifted down towards his stomach while the rest was pulled back into a white bun holder. The identity of the man was kept hidden by a white porcelain mask marked only by a red wave at the bottom and four squiggled lines in the middle, a sign for the Kiri. He wore a moss green turtle neck with matching baggy pants, over it all a short sleeved teal kimono with pale yellow lining had been put on and tide off with a large brown obi with a fringed end. Tan thick sandals acted as his foot wear while teal nail polish could be seen on both his finger and toe nails. Over all despite his gender the man gave off a very feminine appearance, something that was only complimented by his slim figure and short height.

Naruto prepared to aid Sasuke in his fight, but first he wanted to make a attention grabbing appearance.

* * *

A flashy introduction, a bad idea, and Naruto found himself playing the part of a human pin cushion. Surrounded by hard, thick, ice mirrors, each with a reflection of the masked nin stared back at him and Sasuke. The Uchiha avenger shared his current status as pin cushion thanks to the many needles sticking out of his body as well. Neither of their wounds were life threatening; though it began to hamper their ability to fight.

A formation of a single hand seal allowed Naruto to create several doppelgangers, only for their enemy to leap from his protective mirror and easily destroy them with impeccable speed. All the while Sasuke had been watching, forming his own hand seals before placing his fingers in a circle shape before his mouth and exhaling a large fireball. Sasuke smirked. Despite their opponents blinding speed he had managed to clip one of the man's pant legs, allowing him the satisfaction of not only predicting his opponents movement, but seeing it as well.

Naruto shakingly stood his ground. 'I can't see his movements! No matter how many clones I create he just destroys them. At least Sasuke got a hit in.'

The masked nin raised a hand full of senbon and Naruto tensed, preparing to dodge at least some of the spiked projectiles.

"Watch out!" the words were followed by Sasuke tackling Naruto.

The action saved both from the bombardment, but Naruto came to a horrible conclusion. He could barely move. The fact that Sasuke had to move him out of the way was proof enough that his agility had been greatly decreased.

'Shit! This isn't good.' he thought to himself.

The enemy nin took a few seconds to stare down Sasuke, for what reason Naruto didn't understand. This didn't matter for long as the senbon user focused his attention solely on Naruto.

He knew what was coming and braced himself for the pain to come, placing his arms defensively in front of his face. The pain never came though. Naruto waited for some ghost of a pain but nothing occurred, no sting, no muscle spasm, nothing.

'What the-' he thought as he lowered his arms.

Before him he saw the back of Sasuke and a few feet away was the masked nin lying face down.

"Geez… All you ever do is get in the way…" Sasuke stated.

Naruto's face stretched into a wide smile. "Sasuke! You…" his smile faded as he took a closer look at Sasuke's form.

Several needles protruded from various vital points such as his neck, shoulders, and stomach. Blood dripped from his mouth, pooling around him.

"What's… with that face… You moron…" Sasuke shakingly breathed.

Naruto sat, stunned by the conclusion he came to and only able to utter one word. "Why?"

Sasuke didn't say anything, but the words were clear on his face. _How should I know?_

The unspoken answer wasn't good enough for Naruto, he lifted himself onto his knees, his voice started off as a mere whisper and slowly grew to a shout. "But… But… Why? Why me?" He took a second to gather his thoughts. "I never asked for your help!"

His back still towards Naruto, Sasuke's response was slow. "I don't know.. My body just moved on its own… Idiot.." The words spoken, Sasuke stumbled back before falling.

Naruto unintentionally caught him, preventing his team mate from hitting the hard ground.

Sasuke didn't even realize what Naruto had done, continuing to talk as if he was unaware of the world around him. "That man.. My brother. I told myself I wouldn't die until I killed him. Don't die."

The silence that followed bothered Naruto to his core. Saskue's eyes simply closed, his labored breathing ceased, and he went completely still.

The enemy ninja rose to his feet, speaking as he made his way back towards one of his many ice mirrors. Whatever he said was completely missed by Naruto as he was consumed by rage. He felt a prodding in the back of his head as if something was trying to invade his mind. Something was urging his anger on, encouraging him to attack the enemy with abandoned caution. Then all at once it stopped and the outside world ceased to exist for Naruto and a voice filled his mind.

"**You've come to a crossroad. You can either give into your wrath and tap into a power that may someday possess you.. or…. You can stand firm, and claim a title rightfully yours. In the end it's your decision."**

The voice disappeared as soon as it began, not even lingering for a second more than it took for the words to be spoken. Naruto slowly rose from his feet, the enemy ninja watching him with glued eyes and prepared to retaliate.

* * *

Kakashi was bleeding from a stab wound on his hand thanks to a kunai from Zabuza trying to prevent him from lifting his headband to use his Sharingan, and a slash he received from the swordsman's cleaver as he protected his pink haired student and client.

The mist had been thickened thanks to the rouge nin trying to find a way to block his eye technique, leaving him with only two to three feet of vision at this disposal.

Suddenly an inhuman energy could be felt all around.

'The Nine-tails, has the seal on Naruto weakened.' was Kakashi's first thought.

But as he focused on the energy he didn't feel any malevolence upon it and soon realized that it didn't feel like chakra at all.

"What is that?" he suddenly heard Zabuza whisper.

Though he couldn't see the swordsman, he could tell by the sound of his voice that he was just as puzzled by the aura they felt.

'Regardless, I have to end this now!' Kakashi thought before resuming the fight.

* * *

A blinding green light. It was all the masked ninja could see for several seconds. His attempt to see what appeared from the light ended in failure as the light died down only to shoot up into the sky. It broke through the center ice mirror as if it was made out of frail glass and continued to soar ever higher at barely restrained haste.

The green glow disappeared into the thick fog momentarily before reappearing once more before the dome of ice. It took on a new shape before reaching its target, wings spread from its back and the rest of its body lengthened.

'It looks like a small dragon.' the masked nin observed.

His eyes widened as he realized how wrong his observation was, as the so called light based dragon quickly grew in size.

It had been a quick change of events. One minute he was staring down the dragon, and the next he was ejected from his ice mirror and showered in pieces of his very protection.

The masked ninja went onto the defensive and attempted to find his new attacker only to find his vision blocked by a jaded fist. The hit sent him flying, rolling as he hit the ground. Shooting up to his feet, he threw a handful of senbon towards the direction the fist originated from. He only hit air and was once more knocked off his feet from a hit from his blind spot.

The attacks came and went, hitting him in all areas of his body.

'I can't hear his foot steps.' was the random thought that passed through his head.

Indeed the patter of feet was absent and in its place was the sheering sound of the air being cleaved.

His mask cracked, no longer able to handle the abuse and fell to the ground. The face now revealed was a feminine one with almond colored eyes.

The assault ended with a shocked whisper following. "You're Haku." the voice stated.

Haku recognized the voice as Naruto's and looked up at the sound of feet touching the ground.

Naruto was nearly covered in jade armor from neck down. The fists that Haku had caught mere glimpse of before were covered in gauntlets that went up to his elbows with boots mimicking the gauntlets in how they ran up to his knees. Even more armor covered his chest and abdomen, a small piece that circled around his neck being a bronze color with an orange sphere centered in it. Four slabs of the jade armor hung from different pieces of the breast plate, two over the shoulders and two down the sides lying against his legs. Naruto's orange pants had been replaced by a strange pair of blue that seemed similar to his armor in structure. The headband on his forehead had been changed into the same color as the rest of his armor and bore six orange orbs, unevenly placed. From his back were two long slates that curved to help form the gold glass like wings.

Haku stared at Naruto for many seconds, his eyes opened wide in shock at what he was seeing. "What are you?" he finally spoke.

Confusion crossed Naruto's face before he noticed his hands and the armor that covered them. He inspected himself in awe, slowly taking in what his anger had blinded himself to.

"I…. I am… a dragoon." he calmly stated though he found it hard to say the words.

Naruto's exhaustion caught up with him and a second green flash covered him. His armor had disappeared with the flash and he was back in his orange attire. He looked towards Haku, remembering him from his time in the forest and how kind hearted he thought the boy was.

"Why?" Naruto angrily asked.

Haku merely stared at him, not understanding the question.

"Why are you serving Zabuza?" Naruto clarified.

* * *

**Four days later**

Naruto walked away from the Hokage tower as he made his way home. Haku had answered his question with a long tale of sadness. The discovery of his unique bloodline, the betrayal of his father, and Zabuza giving him a new purpose led to him serving the very person that gave him a new life.

Naruto wasn't given too long to think over the tale he was told as Haku disappeared to protect Zabuza from Kakashi's assassination ninjutsu. Using himself as a human shield saved Zabuza from Kakashi; it was unfortunate that Zabuza died when Gato and his thugs showed up. On the bright side, the swordsman was at least able to kill the tyrant before his demise.

Despite the tragedy that occurred Naruto learned something. He didn't agree with the ninja world that forced Zabuza and Haku to be the people they became, and that Haku was right in his philosophy. That people are only truly strong when they are protecting someone who is important to them.

When everything settled down, Kakashi asked both him and Sasuke, who they discovered was merely put into a fake death, what had happened during their fight with Haku. He had also asked if either knew of what the green light was that emanated from their location. Naruto had wanted to happily confess what happened, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to prove it. The team didn't believe that he defeated Haku, why would they believe his other claim. The transformation into a dragoon required the chaotic energy produced from battle. Without the transformation he knew that he wouldn't be able to prove himself, and in the end he feared the possibility of them simply thinking that he lied.

Opening the door to his apartment he was surprised to find a travelers pack on the other side leaning against his wall. He shifted into a defensive stance before quietly making his way further into his home. The intruder was quickly identified when he entered his kitchen.

"Meru?" he asked as he saw the platinum haired woman he'd been searching for the past few weeks.

She turned around, a cute smile gracing her face. "Geez you have been gone for nearly two weeks."

"Meru! I've been looking all around for you." Naruto happily exclaimed.

The friendly intruder chuckled. "One wouldn't think that an intruder would receive such good hospitality." she said as Naruto offered her a place to sit, something to drink, and even food.

After gathering all the things he offered, Naruto sat down and beamed at Meru.

"I transformed!" he said, teeming with energy as he said the simple sentence.

A kind smile crossed her. "Is that so?"

Naruto laughed before continuing. "Yeah! I flew, moved ultra fast and beat someone who was unbelievably strong!"**(3)**

"It is extraordinary the first time you transform." Meru agreed.

Naruto was nearly bouncing on his chair. "Oh yeah you never answered my questions the last time we met."

She shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "You had many, I can't remember them all."

"Let's start with what happened to the others. Where are they? Can I meet them?" Naruto shot off one question after the other.

Meru giggled at his enthusiasm but the smile faded from her face. "Naruto. It has been over twenty thousand years since the fight with Melbu Frahma."

Her sentence caused Naruto to still. His voice caught in his throat as the truth slowly came to him. "T-Then that means…"

Meru sadly nodded her head. "Dart, Shana, Haschel, Albert, Miranda, and even Kongol are dead. Rose as you probably already know disappeared during the final fight."

"But, how are you still alive?" Naruto asked. "I mean, I know Winglies have a longer lifespan than humans, but…"

The Wingly sighed, one of her hands absently rubbing the choker around her neck. "Same way Rose froze time for herself."

Naruto focused on the choker. "Oohhhh." he simply said as understanding dawned on him.

Rose survived over ten thousand years due to a choker made by Charle Frahma. The choker froze time for the person, giving them eternal youth so long as it was worn. "So you went to Melbu Frahma's sister?"

"Yeah. She made this choker for me, just like she did for Rose. Even called me Meruru." the Wingly chuckled as she thought about the childish antics of her old fellow Wingly.

'How I miss you Charle.' she thought while remembering the deceased.

A sudden thought occurred to her. "I've been meaning to ask. How do you know all about us and the dragoons?"

Naruto quickly responded by retrieving his back pack and pulling out the answer to her question. He quickly handed over the large book to Meru.

A flash of recognition crossed her face and she softly traced a finger over the cover of the book. "Oh Al."

"Al? You mean Albert?" Naruto asked.

Meru looked towards Naruto. "Yes. I remember Al writing this book. He was in his forties when he decided that he wanted people to remember us dragoons and all we did."

"Why did you get that choker?"

Naruto's sudden question surprised her.

"I mean, I remember why Rose wore hers. Is there another danger coming?" He asked somewhat hopefully.

Meru chuckled, shaking her head at the hint she heard in his voice. "No, there is no such danger or at least I hope not."

She never answered his question and just as he went to ask again Meru cut him off.

"There are some things I don't exactly want to talk about yet. But there is another thing I want to talk to you about."

Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you want to talk about?"

"You, your plans for the future, and your status. What do you plan to do now that you are the dragoon of the jade dragon, holder of Nine-tails."

* * *

**Author's Note: **I want to apologize for a lot of the cannon that tagged along with this chapter but it wasn't something I could avoid without chopping out too much and decided to just not half ass it on the detail.

Here are the details for the bold numbers found in the chapter.

**1.** I normally write Jounin as Jonin, but recently found that it is actually Jounin so this is me correcting myself.

**2. **For those of you unfamiliar with Legend of dragoon, that was an actual scene from the game itself. I want to include some scenes that really shined in the game while passing time in the Naruto world.

**3. **Sorry for the childish dialogue but nothing has really happened to change Naruto's personality all that much.


	3. Chapter 3:Doubt and Survival

Those Who Rules Over Dragons

Author's Note: I'd like to start off by answering a few questions and taking care of some misunderstandings.

1. A Guest asked if the other characters will get dragoon spirits and the answer is yes, but until Shippuden only Naruto and Meru will be the only ones. Luckily I don't plan for there to be many chapters before the switch to Shippuden timeline. I think there are possibly three; maybe four including this chapter before the time skip.

2. I had placed an example in my previous AN mentioning Naruto being arrogant. That was simply an example of a chain of events. Naruto in this story won't be arrogant. He'll stay fairly the same except be a bit more responsible due to his status as a dragoon and Meru's presence.

3. Another guest reviewer joked about writing blue prints to plan how to get Naruto and Meru into a relationship. I want to stop any misunderstanding; there will not be a romantic relationship of any kind between them. Meru is one of Naruto's heroes. He will seek to impress her, ask her advice, and feel shame when he does something that makes her lose respect towards him. At best they will become friends but Naruto will always look up to her. This is a NaruHina story and as I mentioned before I don't do harems.

Chapter 3:Doubt and Survival

* * *

"So he really runs this late everyday?"

"Yep, always."

Sakura and Sasuke watched as Naruto conversed with the platinum haired woman. The Uchiha avenger acted as though he wasn't watching, using his peripheral vision to watch. It had been odd when Naruto showed up at their designated meeting place for their team with the older woman but they didn't question it, mostly because the two didn't seem to acknowledge them.

"How doesn't he get punished?" Meru asked.

Naruto gave her a confused look. "Why would he?"

Meru took a second to think how exactly she should word things. Ever since becoming associated with Naruto nearly two weeks ago the ancient Wingly learned several things about Naruto. Not all the questions she asked Naruto were answered, but the answers she did get helped her figure out what kind of person Naruto was well enough. Since then she had learned even more about the boy, one of the things was that he wasn't very bright when it came to certain aspects of life. Another thing she discovered was that Naruto acted very much like she did when younger; which made it easier to explain things to him.

"Your sensei, Kakashi, is a very known and respected military officer. He is someone who holds a high rank that demands responsibility. Because of his status in the village he is someone people look up to and should give a good example of what a soldier of the village should be."

Naruto's face scrunched up as he listened. "I didn't think he was that popular."

Meru nodded her head. "Not only is he well known within his own village, but many others outside of this village know of him as well."

"I wonder why?" Naruto asked with annoyance, disbelief clear in his mind.

Meru giggled from how he asked his question. 'Yep, very much like I was when young.' "He fought in the most recent shinobi world war, his father was Konoha's white fang, and he is one of the last Sharingan users that exist. But back to my main point. Someone like him shouldn't be allowed to just arrive as late as he wants, it sets too much of a bad example."

"Eh I still don't follow." Naruto stated.

The platinum haired woman sighed at Naruto's thick head. Her mind tinkered for a few seconds before she came up with an answer that would properly explain her statement. "Imagine if your hero was late all the time."

"You wouldn't do that." Naruto said.

This got the others to give a curious look towards Meru. The Wingly chuckled as she forgot about Naruto's admiration for her.

"True I wouldn't but imagine if I did. After being late to important meetings and events, you would begin to believe that tardiness was excusable and you wouldn't bother with arriving on time."

Understanding crossed Naruto's face before it scrunched up again. "I hope not many people look up to Kakashi then, it will make my time as Hokage miserable."

The last Wingly lost it there and began openly laughing. She wiped a tear away as her laughter died down. "Let's hope for your sake that many don't."

Just then Meru looked towards the space in between herself, Naruto, and the other two occupants. A whirlwind of leaves dispersed to reveal Kakashi. The Jounin gave Meru a curious look.

'She sensed me before my body flicker finished.'

Kakashi put his thoughts aside. "Well hello team, and who might you be?"

Meru wasn't quick to respond, boredom lacing her voice. "People are supposed to introduce themselves before asking the same of another."

Naruto and the rest of team seven looked towards Meru, confused at her switch of attitude.

The white haired nin chuckled at the response. "Alright. I'm Kakashi Hatake, Jounin sensei of this team. Nice to meet you Miss?" He held out a hand.

Meru's hand slowly raised up towards Kakashi's outstretched hand. Just as her hand met his she yanked it back out of reach and brushed one of her bangs back. The callous action caused everyone's eyes to widen.

"Make no mistake Hatake. To give ones name is a courtesy, which you've shown very little."

Meru continued talking before any questions could be asked. "Showing up late, eavesdropping on us, and then lying to our faces as if you weren't listening in. Yes I know you showed up ten minutes ago. Why you didn't simply approach us is beyond me."

The platinum haired girl began walking away, stopping only to address Naruto. "I'm going to get a bite to eat. Be sure to find me once you and your team are done."

"Sure thing!" Naruto shouted to Meru's retreating form.

Kakashi turned to Naruto once Meru was out of sight. "Who was she, your girlfriend?"

"Nah, she's just a friend." Naruto calmly responded.

The way Naruto handled the question earned him a few raised brows. He didn't sputter, blush, or loudly deny the claim.

"That's a lie. A second ago you referred to her as your hero." Sasuke said.

"So who is she?" Kakashi asked again.

Naruto scratched his head, not sure how to answer. "Well she doesn't seem to want you to know and it would be rude for me tell what she doesn't want said."

Deciding to drop the subject, Kakashi moved towards his original intentions for the meeting.

* * *

**Seventeen minutes later**

With a newly acquired form in hand, Naruto ran towards one of the restaurants Meru frequented. A few hops across rooftops and Naruto found himself before the dango shop.

A quick scope of the dumpling eatery and the blonde found his friend sitting at a booth around the corner.

Meru spotted him and patted the cushion space next to her, offering the spot as a place to sit. The hyperactive blonde happily accepted the seat.

"That didn't last long." Meru stated. "Was it just a short meeting or did you skip out." she said playfully towards the end.

Naruto fervently shook his head from side to side. "Nah, Kakashi just wanted to give us these forms." Electricity crept into his voice. "We are given a chance to participate in the Chuunin exams!"

Meru took the form, looking it over before handing it back to the blonde. "So are you going to participate?"

"Of course!" he happily stated.

Her look turned stern as she spoke her next words in a hushed whisper, pulling her new friend closer to ensure no one else heard. "When you participate next week, be sure not to transform into a dragoon."

Naruto pulled back, whining with his next words. "Oooh come on Meru. Why can't I?"

No longer needing to whisper, Meru spoke at a normal volume while keeping the stern edge to her voice. "Remember what we talked about? You shouldn't go off using your _power_ whenever you want."

Naruto slouched, though he nodded his head in understanding. He remembered how Meru warned him how many hidden villages worked. How power, in any shape and form was sought for and abused. She explained how many jinchuuriki were raised and how dragoons would be treated similar if they were discovered. He did not want his power dictated by others. It was one thing to be a soldier for his village; it was not ok to be forced to become something others thought best. He recalled how he shuddered when Meru stated that if certain higher ups decided that his power would do better in another's hands that he'd be stripped of his dragoon stone.

Meru sighed as she couldn't take his sad face anymore. "Alright… you can use your power if, and I do mean if your life is in danger."

Naruto quickly smiled. "Thank you Meru!"

She simply shook her head. "Your welcome kid."

A quick ruffle of his spiky hair from Meru placed a sour expression on Naruto's face, but was replaced with curiosity when Naruto thought about another question on his mind.

"Why were you so cold to Kakashi?"

"Hmmm, well… I just don't trust him." was Meru's response.

Naruto gave her a puzzled look. "Why not?"

"Wellllll… Where to start?" she asked herself. "There is the fact that he signed up for a Jounin sensei position and has failed so many teams. Then there is the required test he gives which insures that any Genin taking it fails without proper explanation."

"But Kakashi passed us." Naruto interjected.

Meru agreed with him. "That's true, but also suspicious. Think of it. The test is only passable if either a team knows each other well enough to fight together or you already know the trick to the test. Unfortunately even if your team did understand the true meaning to the test, chances of getting a bell is highly unlikely. Your team just graduated, you have no clue which team you will be on till the last day, which gives you little experience in working with them. You could be on a team full of strangers, have no clue in how they fight and possibly even get in their way when trying to help. This is a test meant to determine the cohesiveness of an experienced team yet Kakashi has made Genin, newly minted kids take it as a final exam. What Kakashi expects out of Genin is something gained over the course of your career. But despite all this Kakashi not only gave you a second chance, but passed you by simply using a small demonstration of care from your teammates, not team work between all of you."

Naruto stared at Meru for several seconds before speaking. "When you say it like that it does seem suspicious. What does it all mean?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out. He probably has an ulterior motive. I don't like it but my best guess is that he wants to train Sasuke due to him having a Sharingan. It's also possible that some higher ups have asked him to watch over you because of your 'special' status."

This caused a frown to spread on Naruto's face. His left hand rested against his stomach.

"But don't let it bother you, just keep a close eye on those around you." Meru advised.

Naruto's mood didn't brighten. Meru felt bad for depressing the usually energetic boy. At the same time she didn't want him to be fooled by those around him. Better he suspect something now than to find out after several long years.

An arm slung around his shoulders and pulled him closer to the platinum haired woman. "Come on, you just found out that you'll be participating in the Chuunin exams. Let's celebrate!" Meru said before ordering a waiter to bring her another plate of dango.

Her tactic worked though it left Naruto blushing from their close proximity.

* * *

**A Week Later**

Naruto was unsure whether he should call the first part of the Chuunin exams terrorizing or interesting.

'One thing I'm certain about is that I'm glad it's over.'

The first section had been presented as a written test, something Naruto loathed. He had easily spent the entire time freaking out, unaware of the goal behind the test. Naruto had not answered a single question on his test while others cheated to gain theirs. Luckily the answers were not as important as not being caught cheating, something many failed to do.

At the moment he, his team, and several other teams, both foreign and local, stood before an ominous forest. Tall iron fences surrounded the gigantic woods.

The last proctor for the exam held a menacing physique whose scars gave him an even more fearful aura, but the current one held the Chuunin hopefuls on edge with just her blood loving attitude alone.

A tan trench coat covered the majority of her body, stretching from her neck to her knees. The coat gave way to a nearly see-through mesh shirt and orange mini-skirt. A snake fang necklace dangled between her ample breasts. Grey shin guards rested above her sandals, though they would garner the least attention from anyone looking at her. A wicked smile covered her lightly tanned face, hazel eyes leering at the participating Genin. Violet hair was pulled into a wild top pony tail while the bangs framed her face.

Naruto didn't really pay attention to her appearance or the rules she was shouting off. He caught something about scrolls, five days, and surviving, but nothing else as his mind was preoccupied by what Meru had told him. The idea that his teams only reason for passing was thanks to Sasuke being the last 'loyal' Uchiha bothered him deeply. After being initially told about Kakashi's possible double agenda, he just couldn't stop questioning things around him. Everything Meru told him had made perfect sense to him. The overly difficult test, Kakashi's disinterest as a teacher, everything made sense. Naruto had tried to defend his teacher and even thought about the time Kakashi had declared he'd protect them no matter what during their first confrontation with Zabuza.

"But if he truly cared about our safety then why hasn't he taught us anything else." Naruto spoke out loud.

Sakura gave Naruto a curious look. "What are you talking about?"

"N-Nothing." Naruto quickly mumbled.

Her look turned worried. "Are you ok Naruto? You haven't been yourself for nearly a week."

He scratched the back of his head and laughed, feigning a good will. "Hahaha I'm perfectly ok, just thinking about how awesome the Chuunin exams are!"

"Ok." she said, though the worried look on the pink haired Genin didn't disappear.

The final member of Team Seven approached with a scroll with the sign for heaven carried in his hand. "Alright we're posted at gate fifteen. I'll hold onto the scroll while inside the Forest of Death."

Sasuke gave Naruto an expecting look, waiting for the blonde to challenge his authority.

When he didn't receive any backtalk he questioned his teammate. "Did you hear all of that, Naruto?"

The blonde gave the briefest nod. Sakura walked closer to Sasuke before whispering to him. "Something's wrong with Naruto but he doesn't want to talk about it."

"Hn, then that's his problem. Besides this is an improvement from his normally screaming attitude and we could use the extra stealth." Sasuke said, not even bothering to hide it from Naruto.

Sakura looked back towards Naruto, whether he registered the words or not she couldn't tell.

* * *

Sakura shook, her nerves strained while she held onto what little courage she had left. Twice someone had tried to attack them under the guise of their fellow teammate when he wasn't present. The first had been when Naruto had gone to relieve his bladder. Sasuke had quickly noticed the incorrect placing of Naruto's equipment and drove away the intruder. After a password had been created to prevent further enemies from attempting the same stunt, they continued on.

The second time a strong torrent of wind blew across the forest, tearing weak patches of earth from the ground along with Naruto and sent them hurtling away. Naruto seemingly regrouped with his team and spoke the password Sasuke demanded of him, word for word.

Once more Sasuke attacked the fake member, proudly stating that Naruto would not have been able to remember the password. But things didn't occur like last time. Sasuke had attacked, and they had been forced to flee. This new enemy was unlike any other they had even met in the past. Fighting against Zabuza seemed easy in comparison.

They threw everything they had at him yet nothing worked. Sakura looked towards Sasuke and saw exhaustion mixed with fear. A look of finality crossed the Uchiha's face as he reached back into one of his pouches and retrieved the scroll of heaven.

"Here, this is what you want correct."

Sakura's head snapped towards Sasuke, shocked that he even considered bargaining for their life.

Their foe chuckled dryly. "Distracting the hunter with another prey in order to escape. A good strategy Sasuke."

It disturbed them how the man talked to Sasuke in an overly familiar tone.

"Here!" Sasuke said, tossing the white scroll.

The scroll flew through the air for only a few feet before a green blur swiped it from the air.

All eyes widened at the speed of which the person moved. The figure hovered in between the grass nin and her prey, his dragonish wings flapping as they supported him and his emerald armor. The identity of the person remained a secret thanks to the torn black cloth wrapped around his head.

Sasuke and Sakura took steps back as the green clad knight flew towards them and landed on a branch ahead. The tension lifted when he turned and took a protective stance in front of them. With the fear of a new threat gone, Sasuke joined him on the branch.

"What are you doing? We were handing that over so he would let us go!"

* * *

Little of what Sasuke said was understood by Naruto. He was simply too focused on the grass nin standing several feet away. The grass nin shared in his focus, his eyes scanning him with complete fascination and curiosity.

'Can't take this lightly. First the giant snake, now this guy who's emitting this large murderous intent. I'm just lucky my plan of taking off my tee before transforming worked or I wouldn't have a way to hide my face.'

"Are you listening to me? Give me that scroll!" Sasuke said as he reached towards the scroll Naruto was holding.

A swift lift of Naruto arm removed the scroll from Sasuke's reach. Using the same arm as before Naruto back handed the Uchiha. Sasuke was lifted off his feet with his back hitting the bark.

"Why, so you can just hand it over again? He's still going to kill you afterwards." Naruto said with anger evident in his voice.

The grass nin chuckled at this. "He's right Sasuke." he said while still using the friendly tone from earlier. "Why should I accept the scroll when I can kill you and still have the scroll?"

Pulling one of his sleeves back, the grass nin swiped a trail of blood down a tattoo. A declaration of summoning and a cloud of smoke introduced a monstrous sized snake that twisted around the abnormally large trees.

Naruto reached back towards his weapon pouch, now taking on a dark green color.

'That looks like the same snake that attacked me!'

He retrieved two kunai and held them in a reversed grip. The kunai's caught the grass nin's interest. Much like the rest of Naruto, his weapons had changed as well. The blade of each weapon was shaped like a leaf while taking on the same shade of green as Naruto's armor. The hilts of each kunai looked as if they were once roots to a tree.

"Well… isn't this interesting." the grass nin stated. "What are you? Are there more of your kind?"

Naruto prepared himself to take flight. "I am a dragoon." A powerful swing of his wings launched himself towards the enemy nin. "And I'm the last one you'll ever see!"

The grass nin jumped off his snake summon while the reptile stood it's ground. Naruto flew over the snakes mouth after it attempted to swallow him. Twisting his body to the right, Naruto buried one of his kunai into the summon's left eye.

It flailed from the intense pain, forcing Naruto to take flight once more. The young Uzumaki held his other kunai and channeled magic to it. A flick of his wrist switched the weapon to the normal grip and he sent the sharp projectile soaring towards the snake's head. It sunk through the skull easily, continuing almost undisturbed through its midsection, only to exit the snake again and pierce through its tail. The snake collapsed as quickly as the kunai ran through it.

'Where did that other guy go?' Naruto thought as he looked around.

He didn't have to look long as several snakes erupted from a grouping of foliage above Naruto. He instantly flew back, adjusting himself to soar higher. The snakes didn't give up their pursuit as they twisted their body to chase after him.

Naruto retrieved another kunai and flipped himself in order to face his pursuers. An arc formed from his weapon severed the snakes' head from their body. Unfortunately Naruto figured out far too late that the grass nin had never intended to harm him with the snake, instead forcing him towards the area he occupied now.

A vicious kick sent him spiraling towards the ground. A branch stopped Naruto's plummet, allowing him to take a defensive stance in preparation for any oncoming attacks. Sure enough several kunai flew towards him. He only had mere seconds to throw his arms up to protect his face. The kunai bounced off his armor but the grass nin simply landed next to him, continuing the offensive strikes.

The narrow space of the tree trunk gave Naruto little room to properly defend himself, making it almost impossible to not be struck. He'd have tried to fly away but he didn't have enough time in between attacks to do so. Luckily his armor softened many of the blows and after a minute more of the one sided battle Naruto leapt towards the forest floor, floating down with ease. The grass nin stared down towards Naruto for several seconds, chuckling all the while.

"How is it that one with wings has become the prey?" the snake nin goaded.

Naruto lifted his arm before flexing it back twice. "Let's see how tough you are down here."

The grass nin accepted his challenge and dropped down towards the ground. Normally with his wings Naruto would have had an advantage in the air, but with all the trees, branches and foliage it gave too many areas for his opponent to hide and leap off of. On the ground and in the open area there were fewer obstructions, less hiding spots as well.

Naruto's wings began flapping again as he flew towards the grass nin. Indeed the fight was not as one sided as last time. Though the young dragoon was able to better defend himself, his inexperience began to show and the effort put in to fight back dwindled his stamina.

A punch stunned him momentarily, given his opponent enough time to form a few hand seals and blow a torrent of wind similar to the first that sent him flying.

Again Naruto was lifted off the ground and thrown through the air, only thanks to his ability to fly he was able to balance himself before flying out of the winds reach. He hovered in place for several minutes, staring the grass nin down while his wings flexed up and down.

'This guy is unreal. I've barely managed to land three hits on him. I don't know enough of my dragoon powers to use them right. How am I supposed to beat him if I can't bring out my best attacks?' Naruto desperately thought.

"Your interesting but too green." the grass nin stated.

Naruto growled. "Oh yeah? I'll show you who's green!"

He focused, trying to draw on the magic needed to perform an attack. But a problem occurred; he didn't know how to draw upon magic. He didn't know what it felt like nor did he remember how he felt when attacking Haku with wing blaster, the attack he destroyed Haku's mirrors with.

'Dammit what am I supposed to do?'

_A vision suddenly came to Naruto's mind. Suddenly he was in a cave standing next to a tusked dragoon. He recognized the forms of Dart, Lavitz, Rose and Shana staring at him while taking a defensive front before him._

_"Greham!" Lavitze shouted._

_Naruto was shocked when his body moved on its own, even more when a voice he didn't recognized flowed from his mouth. It suddenly occurred to him that he was seeing an event from Greham's past, the past of a previous dragoon of the emerald dragon._

_He watched, and more importantly felt how Greham drew upon the magic stored within each dragoon._

The vision ended and Naruto smiled. Repeating the action witnessed mere seconds ago, Naruto gathered the power he sought.

The grass nin eyes widened as he felt the energy Naruto gathered while the other two members of Team Seven watched on in curiosity.

'What is he doing?' seemed to be the thought on everyone's minds.

The magic flowed through Naruto easily. 'This feels amazing! I always have to struggle to gather chakra but with magic it's a whole different story!'

Having gathered his magic, Naruto threw his remaining kunai at the grass nin. The projectile landed in between his feet, disappearing beneath the earth.

The snake summoner only looked towards Naruto, a humor tinted insult ready to leave his lips.

"O-" he didn't get further than that as the ground beneath him crumbled and a large spear like tower rouse up.

Pieces of the spear caught the grass nin, the wooden pieces warping around him and trapping him.

'Is this the first Hokage's technique?'

The spear stopped its growth own it had reach the height that Naruto hovered at. The young dragoon clasped his hands together, a light purple orb forming around his joined hands. As he split them apart the energy followed both hands before forming twin spikes from either side of the orbs.

Taking aim, Naruto threw his hands towards the grass nin four quick successions, sending javelins of purple energy towards his enemy. Each projectile pierced a limb, forcing a gritted snarl of pain. Gathering the remaining energy in one hand, Naruto formed one last javelin before making it soar with one final thrust. The javelin hit the trapped nin directly in the center of his chest, tearing through his ribcage. The force behind the final javelin broke the spear head and sent the grass nin crashing towards the ground. With the attack finished, the remaining pieces of the spear crumbled.

Shaky breathes left Naruto's mouth. Despite his exhaustion he continued to stare on and observe the destruction he created. He could hear Sakura shouting her happiness at surviving the ordeal. He smiled, happy that he was able to do as Haku told him and protect those dear to him.

Naruto's body suddenly flew back. Looking towards a pressure he felt on his chest revealed that he was being pushed by a long sword that continued to increase in length. Following the sword to its origin revealed the grass nin, unharmed.

Naruto caught a glimpse of a mud clone dissolving near the remains of the giant spear before his back crashed into one of the trees scattered through the forest. The pressure from the sword increased despite Naruto's strong armor. Unable to pierce the arcane metal, the sword slipped to the side, lacerating the muscle in Naruto's arm before imbedding itself in the tree behind him.

With nothing holding him up, Naruto fell to the ground. It took his remaining strength to stand, trembling all the while.

"Well it seems I've tired you out. Good. Now stay there while I deal with my original target, I'll come back for you later." the grass nin said after retracting his sword.

"Stay… away from them." Naruto spoke weakly.

The grass nin merely chuckled in response.

Despite the anger he felt, Naruto began retreating in order to prevent himself from transforming in front of his team and the enemy nin.

* * *

'I hope Naruto's ok.'

This single caring thought repeated in Hinata's head as she and her teammates continued traveling towards the center of the forest. They had gained their opposite scroll thanks to their bug using teammate, Shino. The Aburame stood a few inches taller than Hinata, wearing a grey jacket with a raise collar that covered his lower face. Black circular glasses hid his eyes and brown pants covered his legs. Standard blue sandals were strapped to his feet and his leaf headband helped his brown shaggy hair from falling in front of his eyes.

"Hinata can you see if we're close to the tower?" Kiba, the dog partner nin, asked

The Inuzuka wore a light grey hoodie with black fur lining the hem of his sleeves and hood. His head band was barely visible from underneath his hood and two red fang marks were located on his cheeks. A darker shade of grey pants than his hoodie hung from his waist and a similar pair of blue sandals rested comfortable on his feet. A white puppy was found leaping by his side.

"S-Sure Kiba. Just give me a sec." she stated.

The Hyuga heir began focusing chakra towards her eyes when a green flash caught all three of their attention.

"Hmm.. odd. I wonder what that could be?" Shino stoically wondered.

Kiba stared in the direction the flash originated from for a moment before speaking. "Maybe a fight! Change of plans Hinata. See if you can find anything over there?"

Hinata nodded before channeling chakra to her eyes once more. The veins around her eyes bulged, giving her the special vision her family was born with. Looking through the surrounding foliage, she increased the distance she could see until it rested on a lone figure in orange.

"I-It's N-Naruto."

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Really, is that all?"

"That doesn't explain the light we saw." Shino stated.

Hinata didn't pay her teammates much attention and continued to watch her crush. She saw him gripping his left arm, pulling his right away after several seconds and unzipping this jacket. He weakly shrugged the orange coat off.

The sight of Naruto's injured arm caused Hinata to gasp. His arm was covered in blood that was steadily leaking from a savage cut. The injury itself seemed infected, turning a coloration unnatural for the human body. Reaching towards his face, he removed his tee and began weakly tying it around his arm in a desperate attempt to stop the blood.

"Hinata what's wrong?" Kiba asked, concerned over the look of fear etched onto her face.

"Na-Naruto is hurt. He needs our help!"

Kiba gave a confused face. "But he's the competition, shouldn't we avoid him."

"P-please Kiba, his injury l-looks horrible!" Hinata pleaded.

The Inuzuka thought over it, doubting that saving another team's member was a wise decision. Fed up with Kiba's hesitation, Shino decided to speak.

"Naruto maybe opposition, but he is also a leaf ninja and our old fellow classmate. We should offer a helping hand."

Kiba sighed. "I guess your right. Ok let's hurry before someone tries to make Naruto an easy target."

The three ran off towards Naruto's location, only taking a few minutes to arrive. The two male members of Team Eight froze at the sight of Naruto. Dark lines had formed under his eyes, his skin was deathly pale, and the blood on his arm had yet to decrease.

Naruto barely made out their forms from his decreasing vision. Having already dealt with her shock from witnessing his horrid condition before, Hinata continued towards Naruto undeterred. He slumped forward and barely registered someone catching him before he lost consciousness.

Hinata stood glued in place, shaking as she held onto Naruto.

"Kiba. Shino. Help me please."

* * *

Night had come and team eight had been forced to stop their travel and set up camp. Even if they wanted to continue moving towards the center of the forest, Naruto's bed ridden state left them with little option. Speaking of the Uzumaki, he rested his head on a pillow formed from his orange jacket. His injury had been treated and wrapped in bandages, another article of clothing placed beneath the arm to prevent any dirt from attaching to the bandages or worse.

"I can't believe how bad Naruto looked. I know that chick had us sign wavers, but I didn't think anyone from Konoha would have come so close to dying." Kiba said while he and the others were gathered around a camp fire.

Shino nodded his head. "Indeed. The poison my insects withdrew from Naruto's wound was highly toxic. Had we not found him when we did his organs would have begun shutting down one after the other, a most agonizing death would have awaited him."

Hinata shivered before glancing towards Naruto's sleeping form.

"Yeah Shino, he's also lucky that Hinata knows a thing or two about first aid or he'd have bled to death even after your miracle." Kiba stated.

"I was impressed by how quickly his wound began closing up after Hinata began applying her medical cream. Should we find ourselves injured in the future we will be most fortunate for to have someone we can truly rely on to heal our injuries."

Hinata remained quiet despite Shino's compliment. Her teammates began to worry about her, and soon began trying to discern a way to ease her mind.

"Hey Hinata." Kiba said to get her attention. She turned her head to look towards him. "We need to decide on watch shifts. Me and Shino think you should take the last shift."

The young Hyuga shook her head in kind protest. "I-I'm ok. I would like to keep watch, Naruto will need someone to check his bandage and lower his temperature should he get a fever."

"We are capable of that." Shino idly stated.

"And besides, you have to be the most tired out of all of us. You have been using your Byakugan to help us avoid ambushes for a while. We know it puts a strain on you after long use." Kiba pointed out.

Hinata smiled at her teams concern. "Thank you but I'm really ok. I-I'll take the first shift and wake you after it's over."

'No you won't.' were the similar thoughts that ran through Shino's and Kiba's heads.

Shino decided on a different approach. "I'll take the first shift and then wake you for the second shift."

Hinata looked like she was about to decline and Kiba decided to end the conversation.

"It's either that or I tie you up and keep you inside the tent till our shifts are over."

"O-Ok." Hinata weakly replied.

* * *

Shino kept his word and woke Hinata after his shift was over. Once up Hinata immediately made her way next to Naruto and checked his bandages. Afterwards she checked his temperature, her hand hesitant as she reached for his bare forehead. Though warm it was nothing to worry about. Her hand left his forehead with just as much hesitance and she continued to watch over him.

With the threat against Naruto's life soundly removed the situation began to dawn on her. She was sitting closer to her crush than she'd ever accomplished and he was shirtless. A blush took over her faces as she looked him over and explored the new sight.

'I'm pathetic.' she thought. 'It took Naruto being gravely injured for me to get this close to him. Why can't I approach him on my own?'

Her low self esteem stayed present though her thoughts drifted to other areas.

'He looks so calm, it's so rare to see him not being hyperactive. His hair almost looks like fur.'

Her tiny fingers slowly moved towards the blonde strands before disappearing among the mass of yellow.

'It's so soft!'

Hinata continued to explore the jungle of his hair, only stopping when his face scrunched. The speed her fingers exited nearly tore a few hairs out. Naruto's uninjured arm mechanically moved and his hand rubbed his face before flopping gracelessly to the ground. His last action before going still again was the disgruntled mumble that left his lips.

Hinata couldn't help but giggle at his sleep antic. Once she was certain that Naruto wouldn't be waking up Hinata decided to take a more serious post as watch. She didn't leave Naruto's side, but she did activate her Byakugan eyes every now and then to check her surroundings.

A green glow caught her eyes once during her periodically searches. Turning towards its origin she found it to be from Naruto's special stone.

'It seems different.' she pointed out to herself before slipping a shy hand into his pocket to retrieve the stone.

Its glow decreased as it left Naruto's side, a fact that wasn't missed by Hinata. Though the glow decreased, the light that still emanated from the stone was indeed stronger than when Hinata first saw it.

'I wonder why Naruto cherishes this. It's pretty, but this seems like something a girl would like more. What is this energy I see with my Byakugan? And why does it grow bigger when closer to Naruto?'

These thoughts ran through Hinata's mind throughout the night. She eventually returned the stone to Naruto's pocket before returning to being a more diligent watch.

* * *

At first opening his eyes only brought the sting of light. A few seconds adjusting to the bright morning brought green leaves and brown bark to his surrounding vision, reminding him that he was still in the forest of death. Another site caught his eyes. Hinata Hyuga, sitting next to his prone forming, eyes drooping as she fought to not descend into unconsciousness.

"H..Hi.. Hi-na-ta." he forced out of his parched throat.

The Hyuga snapped up right when she heard Naruto speak. Her entire demeanor brightened.

"Na-Naruto, are you o-ok now?"

His face scrunched up as he tried to respond. "…he..s…." in the end nothing but air escaped his lips.

Understanding what the problem was, Hinata walked off. "I-I-I'll be back with s-some water."

Naruto took the time of Hinata's absence to study the rest of his situations. He noticed that his shirt was missing, that he was lying on his jacket, and a pat on his pants pocket revealed the lump created from his dragoon stone. Lazy eyes looked over his arm before resting on the bandages wrapped around his bicep. The memory of the battle came back to him and panic rouse up.

He jerked forward and attempted to stand only to crumble to his knees. Coughs ripped from his throat, nearly causing him to gag from the lack of liquid in his throat.

"Naruto!" he heard Hinata actually yell his name with concern.

In seconds she was by his side, offering a canteen. He gratefully accepted the container and chugged the cool liquid.

"Where's the rest of my team?" Naruto desperately asked once he had his fill.

Hinata didn't know how to answer. She had merely assumed that Naruto had been separated and attacked; it never occurred to her that their team as a whole may have been assaulted.

"I… I-I'm not s-sure. Y-You were the only o-one w-we found."

He began pulling on her jacket and attempted to get up again, unsuccessful in the standing part.

"I've got to go look for them." he said, unwilling to accept the fact that it was highly possible that his team died.

Naruto attempted to get up once more but found Hinata's hands attempted to push him back to the ground.

"Naruto. Y-you're in no c-condition to be moving around."

A swift curse came from the tent nearby, catching both Naruto's and Hinata's attention. The tent shook a little before Kiba burst out with a worried look on his face before finally resting on the only other people nearby. He bore a lazy glare at Hinata, making her uncomfortable with the stare.

"You were supposed to wake me up for my shift Hinata. Look at you! You're about to fall over!"

Hinata mumbled an apology while still trying to hold down Naruto, something she was honestly only able to do thanks to gravity in her tired state.

"Get some sleep, I'll watch over the grouchy patient." Kiba said

Hinata didn't bother trying to protest, she could tell Kiba was already upset and wasn't going to budge.

Kiba lazily sat down, insuring that Naruto was his seat.

"Kiba!" Naruto growled. "Get your ass off me!"

* * *

After Hinata had gotten a sufficient amount of sleep Kiba helped make a meal with her that Shino had gathered. Naruto had joined in their meal, having accepted his situation and calmed down enough to realize that Hinata was right. After eating a decent meal he felt better even able to move properly without stumbling. He knew he wasn't back to one hundred percent health but it would have to do.

Naruto waited for Team Eight to finish packing before preparing to search for his teammates or their remains.

"Thanks again guys, especially you Hinata." Naruto said, fully dressed minus his black tee that had been deemed unusable.

Hinata blushed from the attention. "It was n-nothing. You would have done the s-same for us."

"Yeah but Kiba told me about you spotting me and your miracle cream, oh and how you watched over me all night."

"Y-Y-You're w-welcome Naruto." Hinata stuttered.

Naruto reached back and pulled out the scroll he stopped Sasuke from handing over. "Here, I owe you something for all you've done." he held it out. "Go on, take it."

'Sasuke was just going to hand over anyway, might as well give it to someone like Hinata.'

Hinata shook her head. "It's o-ok, w-we've already gotten b-both scrolls."

Kiba proudly brandished both scrolls.

"Oh I see. I guess I owe you twice now." Naruto stated.

Hinata's eyes drifted to the ground. "N-Naruto you d-don't have to owe me a-anything."

Naruto shook his head. "Nope! I'll find some way to repay you. Well, see you later!"

With that Naruto said good bye and began his search.

* * *

Author's Note: I'd like to apologize for the long update, I was having a hard time getting around the fight scene with Orochimaru. In the end I'm glad I took my time with it because it came out better than I could have hoped, normally I don't feel so confident writing fight scenes but here I felt ok. Afterwards I just had to look over the chapter to capture any grammar mistakes and more importantly make sure the chapter felt comfortable as I read through it.


	4. Chapter 4:Preparation

Those who rule over dragons

Author's note: Know it's been a long time and I'm sure many thought I was giving up on writing. Not going to lie, the thought did occur to me, but I changed my mind and decided to at least finish these two stories. Hopefully I can get back on a more regular update schedule, won't make any promises.

**Important Information: **I'm not going to write out the elimination round for the second part of the Chunin exams. Nothing different happens. Naruto beats Kiba; Hinata is beaten by Neji, and Naruto promises with Hinata's blood that he'll make Neji pay. Nothing different from the show, so why bother writing it out.

Chapter 4: Preparation

* * *

'After fighting that snake psycho, nearly dying from poison, and beating Kiba….. I have to deal with this bullshit!'

"You bastard!" he said. "FUCK YOU HATAKE!"

Naruto's shout reverberated through the hospital halls, catching the attention of all present.

The insulted Jounin turned to Naruto, his sole eye wide with shock from the outburst.

Naruto didn't give his sensei a chance to talk as he turned around immediately and ran out of the hospital. Flying through the double doors, he continued to run. There was no destination in mind or sense of direction, just the thoughts that occupied and wreaked havoc.

'Meru was right! My sensei doesn't care, my team only exists thanks to Sasuke's royal ass…. what am I supposed to do? I have a month to train and my sensei…' his thoughts continued their chaotic tempo.

Tears began to well up in his eyes and in retaliation he rubbed his sleeve across his face. His decision proved to be a mistake as he slammed into someone, taking them with him as he barreled to the ground.

"Hey watch wh- Naruto?"

He recognized the person's voice as Meru and wiped away any stray tears. "Sorry Meru. I was in a rush."

Her voice was blunt but playful. "Well apparently. What's got you running?"

Despite his best effort Naruto couldn't put on a happy expression, he couldn't even find his voice. Meru noticed his unusual behavior immediately.

"What's wrong?" she softly asked.

Naruto refused to answer, instead focusing on how to respond. Suddenly his hand had been grasped and he felt himself being guided by Meru.

"Let's go else where." She said, leaving out the fact that she had noticed Kakashi making his way towards them.

Meru led Naruto into an alley before forming her lighted wings, she made sure to grab a better hold of Naruto before taking off.

Kakashi entered the alley only to find half filled trash cans. "Strange." He leapt onto the roof of a building to his left and scoped around. "Where did they go?" he asked, unaware of the wingly flying away.

* * *

The blue dressed wingly chose an unoccupied training ground to land in. Naruto had stayed silent during the flight, something Meru was thankful for.

She gave him a few minutes to begin talking before she repeated her question. "What's wrong?"

Naruto fidgeted at first before he began opening up. "You were right." he simply stated.

"About what?" Meru asked though she feared she already knew.

Naruto took another second to respond, finding it easier to talk now that they were no longer in public.

"About Kakashi, and everything about him."

Meru shook her head; Naruto's depressed attitude became infectious. "I'm sorry Naruto. I didn't want to be right."

The blonde sighed. "It's ok. I mean it's not like it's your fault."

She nodded before going silent. Her mind grew curious on what had happened between Naruto entering the Chuunin exams and now that made him come to his discovery.

"What happened?"

Caught off guard, Naruto gave her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

"How did you find out about Kakashi's true intentions?" Meru asked clearer this time.

Naruto gave a dry chuckle and began explaining everything that happened during the Chuunin exams. He started off with the written test and his doubts forming even then and continued onto his near death experience. Meru listened intently, nodding as he talked to show she was keeping up. It had surprised her that Naruto had lost a fight while in dragoon form.

'Even as a newly minted dragoon he should have easily beaten any Genin entering the forest.'

"Luckily Hinata spotted me and she and her team treated my wound." Naruto said.

He moved onto finding his teammates and spoke of how they gained their next scroll and participated in the elimination round. Naruto left out the details of his victory over Kiba, too embarrassed to admit he won by accidentally farting in his opponents face.

"Hinata fought against a cousin of hers…. and she lost."

Meru noticed the slight anger filling Naruto's voice, but allowed Naruto to continue uninterrupted.

"He completely talked down to her as if she was dirt beneath his feet. She fought so hard and yet he insulted her for trying to fight him! I made a vow to him, on her blood, that I'd beat him."

Meru held back the temptation to poke fun at how he acted in regard to Hinata, though she would remember to get him later.

"After all the fights were over we drew to choose who we would fight next. And guess what, I'm going to be fighting Neji in the first match!" Naruto voice grew excited.

"Well that's good news." Meru perked up.

Naruto's enthusiasm disappeared and was quickly replaced with anger. "Yeah, I was so excited that I planned to ask Kakashi to help me train after I checked on Sasuke at the hospital. Kakashi was at the hospital, but he refused to train me."

Naruto gritted his teeth as he recalled what his sensei told him. "He told me that he had to focus on training Sasuke. Said that Sasuke's opponent was dangerous and likely kill him."

A loud huff emanated from Meru. "That asshole." 'As if he can only train one student at a time.'

"I called him a bastard." Naruto stated.

Meru chuckled. "Yeah he is. You'd think the least he could have done was get you another teacher."

"He did." Naruto admitted. "But this guy is so pathetic that I beat him even before becoming a dragoon."

"That…. just make's it worse" the wingly lamented.

Naruto simply sat on soft grass and shook his head. He heard that talking to someone about things was suppose to make you feel better, but at the moment he just felt worse as he focused on the fight within the near future. He was facing off against someone who had no qualms against killing a member of his family, no sensei to properly prepare him, and he had possibly damaged any relationship with his team.

'As if there was any.' was the blonde's begrudged thought.

"What type of ninja is Neji?" Meru suddenly asked.

The blonde Genin gave her a confused look. "During his fight with Hinata he fought hand to hand, but that might be because of him being Hyuga and all. At least that is what I heard his sensei talking about."

Meru began searching her mind for everything she knew of the Hyuga. Their eyes were special, she recalled that much, but unlike the Sharingan of the Uchiha.

"How are you at hand to hand combat?"

"I'm good!" Naruto boasted.

The wingly gave him a scrutinizing look. "What fighting style do you use?"

"I never learned one."

"So you have no fighting style." Meru stated, causing Naruto to wince from the tone. "Who took the time to personally teach you how to fight?"

"Iruka sensei." Naruto stated, though his voice didn't carry any confidence.

Meru shook her head. "Iruka was your academy teacher?"

Naruto merely nodded his head.

"The academy teachers are handling several students, maybe over thirty at a time. They can't give the personal training that a person needs for decent hand to hand combat training."

Naruto's ego had completely depleted.

"So you don't have a fighting style or any personal training." A long drawn out sigh left her lips. "Kid….. you are lucky to have met me."

A questionable look crossed his face, uncertain by what exactly Meru meant.

"You're lucky that I have time to train you. You are also lucky that I took lessons from Haschel before he passed away."

A grin slowly crossed the blonde's face. "You learned the Rouge's martial arts from Haschel?"

Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing. Haschel was the only dragoon amongst the group to fight solely with his fist, the training behind them allowing him to destroy a stone disc that had blocked the group's path. Standing three times the man's height and twice as thick as the man himself, brought down and reduced to rubble by a few well placed strikes. The martial arts that Haschel created and perfected passed down to one of the most unlikely members… and soon taught to Naruto.

"I'm no master like Haschel, but I learned enough." Meru said.

Naruto jumped to his feet. Excitement renewed in him, his past troubles forgotten. "Let's get started!"

Meru stared at Naruto for a few seconds before smiling. "Sure! First lesson is stance."

* * *

**A few days later**

"No no no! You need to hold you arms at your sides and bend them at a near ninety degree angle."

Meru followed the instruction by fixing Naruto's improper form, the blonde straining to hold the correct stance. Naruto held his legs spread nearly open; knee's bending him into a slight squat, his left leg forming an upside down one hundred and eighty degree angle while his right supported the other in a ninety degree angle. His head was turned to the side and his bent arms pointed fists in two directions, one towards the path he was focusing on and the other facing in the direction his stomach faced.

"Naruto you're too tense. You need to relax!" Meru sternly stated.

"How can I when I'm standing like I'm planning to crap my pants?" Naruto nearly shouted.

Meru's retort was instant. "That is what the exercises are for. To prepare your body so the stance feels more natural."

A growl emitted from his throat, frustration getting the better of him.

"When am I going to start learning how to attack?"

A light bonk on the head nearly caused Naruto to fall over. Craning his head towards his back allowed him to see Meru brandishing her hammer over her shoulders.

"You first need to learn how to shift in and out of your fighting stance without any flaws. It will be pointless to teach you any of the Rouge arts attack or techniques until then."

Meru pinched the bridge of her nose when she noticed the confused yet frustrated look on her students face.

Taking in a deep breath, Meru prepared to slowly explain. "Ok say I do teach you how to attack; if you can't shift back into the correct stance then you won't be able to correctly attack. You can't afford to take several minutes correcting your stance; your enemy certainly will not be patient while you do so."

"Grrr, with all this time it's taking to learn this and the physical exercises how am I suppose to master the Rouge's art in less than a month."

"You're not."

The sheer simplicity in Meru's voice stilled Naruto's shaking form. His mind nearly froze, allowing only one question to form in his mind.

"What!"

"With only a month to practice you wouldn't be able to master this martial art. It would take years to teach you everything. The only thing I have time to teach you are the basics and even that is stretching it with our time limit."

Naruto dropped the stance altogether. "Then how am I going to beat Neji. He's considered a prodigy of his clans. The basics won't cut it!"

"No… they won't." Meru agreed.

"Then why? Why am I even bothering to train!"

"Naruto. You won't be using the basics alone. You are a ninja. You have things that give you the advantage. You won't beat Neji with the basics alone. But coupled with your shadow clones, that should be enough."

He listened to Meru, though still confused.

"The whole point of this training is to give you a better understanding of hand to hand combat. You have a tremendous advantage with your ability to form copies of yourself, but without training in properly defending yourself those clones are useless. "

He knew of his lack of fighting style, but to be told that his best technique was useless because of it stung.

A look of defeat crossed Naruto's face and Meru knew it was time to call it a day.

"Complete a set of the exercises I had set for you then go home and rest. We'll continue this tomorrow."

He didn't even resist.

It was unpleasant to watch Naruto's retreating form. Painful as it was, Meru needed to open Naruto's eyes. Force him to see the things he didn't want to see and hear the truth he blocked out.

'This is going to be a long and unpleasant ride… but you'll thank me… one day.'

* * *

**Two weeks later**

_Thwak, tac, tac, Thwak._

The sound of Naruto's fist slamming against the wooden post reverberated through the training field. Meru sat a top a boulder not too far away so she could watch over his progress.

"Is this correct?" Naruto asked as he repeated the strikes. _Thwak, tac, tac, Thwak._

Meru paid close attention to Naruto's form, studying it for any flaws. "Not quite. Close, but the time between your punches is lagging."

Naruto nodded before focusing on his training.

Things had progressed since Naruto's first day. Without the illusion he held over himself, Naruto pushed himself harder, keeping his mouth closed and his mind focused on the task at hand.

_Thwak, tac, tac, Thwak. _

'There it is again. The transition between his second and third punch are lagging, but why?'

She studied his legs, insuring he held them apart by the correct distance and took the correct steps when punching. Finding nothing wrong she focused on his torso. Again there was nothing out of place. His body twisted perfectly, putting the maximum of his strength behind his attacks.

'Maybe it's his shoulders…. No, they're steady and keeping his arms- Wait what's that!'

Meru kept her eyes glued to Naruto's sleeve, watching as he struck the post once more. The creases of his sleeve disappeared, but when his arm reached its complete length the sleeves would catch onto his elbow.

"Stop."

The command served its purpose as Naruto halted. "What's up?"

"I think I found the problem." Meru stated as she hopped off her perch and made her way towards him.

The blonde felt uncomfortable as Meru circled around him, observing him closely.

'It's as I thought. The jacket's sleeves are slowing him down. Guess he'll have to take it off. Or I could…'

Naruto's nerves flared when a dangerous smirk crossed the wingly's face.

The sound of cloth ripping followed by a squeamish protest followed quickly afterwards. Meru tossed away the offending sleeves, slapping her hands together as if removing dirt.

"Wh-Why'd you do that for?"Naruto yelled.

"Your sleeves were getting in the way." Meru plainly stated.

Naruto's response was a stammering whine. "B-But you could simply a-asked me to take off my j-jacket."

The platinum haired girl shrugged her shoulders. "I felt this was better. Stop complaining, if you're really that upset over it I'll buy you a new one after the tournament."

Despite the offer, Naruto still grumbled over the damage done. He eventually let it go before returning to the training post. Shifting into his fighting stance had become second nature, his body taking position as if the very muscles had memorized it.

_Thwak, tactac, Thwak._

"Good. That's definitely better." Meru complemented.

Naruto grumbled for a second before preparing a new set of strikes. He continued practicing until Meru stopped him to demonstrate the next set of attacks and repeating the process once more afterwards. Calm settled over the field with the sound of wood being hammer as a soft lullaby. Meru almost made to lie herself on the ground when the calm was pierced.

"I've never seen a fighter stance like that before!"

A boisterous voice filled the training field, causing both Naruto's and Meru's attention to shift. The new arrival wore green spandex and a standard Jounin vest.

Naruto immediately recognized the bowl cut sensei of team nine. "Might Guy."

Guy didn't take much notice to his name, instead focusing on Naruto. "Your legs are firmly planted, allowing for powerful swings. The distance they're spread also helps with taking long steps as you move into the offensive. Angle of your body insures that you are well guarded."

Guy began circling around Naruto to better observe his stance. "Your opponent would need to get around your defense to properly hit you. The only disadvantage this form has is it lack of maneuverability."

"Are you spying on me?" Naruto finally asked, too disturbed by Guys estimation to ask sooner.

An offended look crossed the green clad man's face before being replaced by a blinding smile. "No, my intention never was to spy on your youthful training."

"Then why are you here?" Meru interjected.

Despite his bravado, Guy took a second to think over how he planned to word things. "I heard a most unyouthful rumor. It involves you and Kakashi. I haven't been able to find my rival, so that leaves only you, his pupil, to confirm what I've heard."

The look on Naruto's face instantly turned sour. "So…. what have you heard?"

Guy put a balled fist to his chin. "I'm not sure how to exactly say it. At best I can say that something unpleasant happened between you and your sensei. I would prefer to hear what happened from either my rival or you, and seeing as I can't find Kakashi, that leaves you."

Naruto simply wanted to walk away. Ignore the questionable look he was receiving and continue his training. But he knew better, realized that if Lee mimicked his sensei as much as he thought then the man before him would be persistent in his task.

"I asked Kakashi to help me train. He told me no and pushed me off onto another sensei."

"I heard there was some very colorful words spoken."

Naruto shook his head. 'Colorful. Hah!'

"Maybe I didn't handle things nicely when Kakashi told me that the reason he couldn't train me was because he needed to focus on training Sasuke for the finals. I believe my exact words were 'Fuck you Hatake'."

"I see." was Guy's response.

"Well I'll let you get back to training. I don't want to be responsible if you should lose against my student."

Guy was in the middle of turning when Naruto spoke. "Wait. Where did you hear the 'rumors'?" he said putting emphasis on the word rumor.

"The hospital. I was visiting my pupil when I heard one of the nurses talking about it."

Naruto thought about it for a second. "You sure none of the people on the street aren't talking?

"Not that I know of. Have no fear Naruto; I'll not spread this around!"

The good guy pose Guy took nearly had Meru snickering, the first sounds she'd have made since Guy's appearance.

Guy turned to Meru gave a quick good bye before leaving.

"Strange guy. But at least he's nice about things." Meru pointed out.

"Yeah, he has a mini him as one of his students that could pass for an exact clone."

Meru gave Naruto a skeptical look. "Really?"

"Uh-huh. In fact he should be at the hospital right now if you'd like to see him."

The wingly thought of the idea for a few seconds before passing it up, though she still considered it a good idea, if only for someone else.

"I'll probably see this clone at the finals, but we should call it a day for now."

Naruto didn't like the idea. "What? Why? There's still plenty of time to train."

"Yeah but you've been training non-stop. Take some time to rest and relax."

His training had left him little time for enjoyment, that much Naruto agreed on. However he didn't feel that he had the luxury for such things. At the same time he realized that without Meru's instructions that he'd be unable to continue training regardless.

"Fine! But what am I suppose to do? It's not like I made plans."

The platinum haired girl shrugged her shoulders, feigning ignorance. "How should I know? You mentioned the hospital. Why not go there, isn't that friend of yours still recovering. He, Hin, Hina. That her name?"

"It's Hinata." Naruto corrected her, oblivious to her plan.

"Ok, yeah. Go visit her. You have a few favors to repay." Meru said.

"I wouldn't count visiting her in the hospital as repayment, but it wouldn't hurt." Naruto said before leaving, though still upset about his halt in training.

* * *

The hospital room was quiet, almost unbearably so. Few things could distract her thoughts aside from the rhythmic beat of her heart monitor. A modest window broadcasting the outside world, something she was thankful for.

Few visitors came aside from her teammates and on the rarer occasion her father, something just as rare as it was welcomed. The young Hyuga closed her eyes. Rest, it seemed to be the only thing she could do while in the hospital. Any book she could request would most likely be read in a day and due to her injuries she wasn't allowed any physical activities.

She began to wonder if her show of defiance to her cousin was even worth it.

'I paid for one day of defiance with several weeks of being confined to a bed.'

She quickly retracted the thought. Remembering the urging of her blonde crush made up for it. Looking out the window, Hinata couldn't stop herself from thinking about Naruto.

'I hope he hasn't gotten in trouble.' she thought while recalling the rumors she heard spread through the hospital.

The door to her room slowly opened and a hesitant Naruto peered in. He let out a thankful sigh when his eyes fell on Hinata.

"Finally, you don't want to know how many times I got the wrong door."

Hinata could only blink for the first few seconds before responding. "N-Naruto. You're h-here to visit m-me?"

Naruto closed the door behind him and began approaching her bed. "Yeah. My… sensei gave the rest of the day off. Figured you could use some company."

"T-Thank you. H…How has your training gone?"

He scratched the back of his head, uncertian how to answer yet appreciative of the hospital patient for asking.

Hinata took notice of the sleeves of Naruto's jacket or the lack of. "What happened t-to your jacket?"

"Um… a training accident caused them to rip off." he answered, half wanting to admit the truth. "But they were getting in the way, so it wasn't too much of a lost. Yeah my training is progressing really well. The first day annoyed me but afterwards I kept getting better and better."

"I-It's so fortunate t-that Kakashi decided to t-train you." Hinata said.

She regretted her sentence when Naruto went silent and averted his eyes to the ground. It became apparent that she was wrong in her assumption.

"Kakashi isn't training me, I got lucky and found another."

Hinata lowered her eyes as well. "I-I-I'm sorry."

Naruto's mood brightened and he looked back towards her face. "Hey it's not your fault. Besides what counts is that I have someone to train me. So what's happened for you in the last few weeks?"

Hinata blushed, thankful for the blonde's considerate nature. "U-Unfortunately nothing much."

"Never really is anything to do here." Naruto joked.

A small smile crossed Hinata's face. "No. T-There is not?"

A sense of understanding fell upon Naruto. He was all too familiar with the dull life of recovering, though he felt that Hinata had one advantage that he did not.

"I'm sure you have had visits. That must have helped."

"Yes, they have." Hinata responded. Her voice held enthusiasm, but her eyes lacked the light to go with it.

Naruto looked around the room, exploring its bland contours and noticing the small amounts of get well gifts, lack of any flowers, and the absence of individuality set into the room. To him it felt like any other hospital room. Another look at the table next to Hinata's bed showed no signs of food or the substance the hospital deemed edible.

His stomach growled in response to the thought of food. A chuckle escaped him.

"I haven't eaten yet." was his modest excuse.

Hinata blushed for him. "It's o-ok. Thank you for com-coming by."

"Why don't you come eat with me?" His question left his mouth before he even had time to process what he was asking it.

The patient began to steadily poke her fingers together, a content blush spreading on her face while she allowed her bangs to shadow her eyes.

"I-I would like t-that b-but." she pointed to the heart monitor. "I c-can't leave t-th-the hospital."

Naruto looked towards the indicated machine, sighing as he remembered the machine and the troubles it gave him in escaping from his room. It was experience that stopped him from yanking the plug, knowing full well once it stopped functioning that a horde of nurse would rush the room in search of the issue. That only left him with an option he wasn't confident about.

"I'll be right back."

He was gone before Hinata could even ask him where he was going. She waited patiently, feeling the boredom of before settling in again. The wait felt longer than it was as Naruto reentered the room, pushing a wheel chair and being followed by a nurse.

"And remember we expect her back in an hour." the nurse sternly informed Naruto.

The look on Naruto's faced seemed to indicate that he'd been listening to the nurse his entire trip back.

The nurse turned to Hinata, performing a complete change as she went from stern to kind.

"Ok lady Hyuga, I'll just unhook the heart monitor. The fresh air will definitely do you some good, but make sure not to push yourself. Watch your heart-rate and make sure to rush back here if you feel any pain in your chest."

Hinata nodded as the nurse went on.

* * *

Hinata took in a deep breathe, enjoying the air that lacked chemical any decontaminates. The scenery was a pleasant change from the four walls of her hospital room and the window that merely teased her of the outside world. An added luxury was the company she had.

It was hard to believe that Naruto was helping her get around town, pushing her wheel chair towards a place to eat.

"So Hinata, what do you feel like eating?"

The simple question left her contemplative. 'Oh I would love some cinnamon buns, with extra icing. Though I'm sure Naruto would like to eat at Ichiraku.'

Her mouth watered. "I haven't h-had ci-cinnamon buns in a while."

'Hadn't expected her to ask for something like that'

"Sure thing. Where's a bakery around here?"

Hinata smiled, pointing out directions to the nearest bakery she knew of. During the stroll Hinata almost felt like an Inuzuka. The smell of baked goods and sweets almost guiding her. It got even worse as she had to wait at the table while Naruto got her order.

"I've never had fresh sweets before." Naruto said as he placed both of their plates down.

"Never?" she asked while picking up one of the three steaming buns off of her plate.

Naruto took a bite out of one of his. "Mmmm. No I haven't, but this is really good."

Hinata nodded. "Th-They are always better when w-w-warm. And the icing too, I-I always ask for more icing."

Speaking of the white glaze, she had gotten a bit of it on her fingers. Her Hyuga up bringing told her to find a napkin, only, their table didn't have any.

"U-Um Naru-to, could you get me a n-napkin."

The blonde gave a confused look. "Sure, but what for?"

She presented her hand, pointing out the white liquid sugar on her fingers.

"Why don't ya just lick it up? You like the icing and it would just be a waste to use a napkin, heck it tastes so good I'd lick it up!"

His question and following sentence caught her by surprise. 'He's right.' she surmised. But she still had trouble going against years of training. A blush spread on her face as she thought about Naruto's after thought. His mouth cleaning off her fingers was a tempting idea. But she knew that it would be too much for her and fainting was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

Naruto chuckled while Hinata licked the icing off her digits. "Much better!"

'Indeed.' she thought to herself.

The simple act of relinquishing the rules brought on her felt like a heavy weight had fallen off. The ability to eat a meal without worry calmed her nerves, allowing herself to truly enjoy the meal.

* * *

All good things must come to an end, as Hinata discovered.

The meal was enjoyable yet had ended far before Hinata wished it. Once more Naruto pushed her wheel chair across Konoha. With a full stomach she began to feel drowsy. It was only thanks to the bumps in the bricked road that kept her awake.

Naruto had remained quiet during the trip back. Nothing in particular came to mind, and he did not want to force a conversation.

A nurse helped Hinata back into her bed and reattached the heart monitor, to Hinata's annoyance.

"T-Thank you. Naruto."

Her soft voiced sentence brought a smile to his lips. "It was no problem. I had a really great time." His grin stretched out. "Maybe I can visit again before the finals, and if not we can always hang out afterwards!"

She didn't know what to think. On one hand Hinata could not believe that her crush considered her as a friend. Yet she was thrilled. She'd wish for more, but understood the leap she made from her previous status with Naruto.

"That would be nice."

* * *

**Author's Note: I really don't know what to say. I'm deeply sorry for the long, very long wait. I'm not going to give any excuses. Fact is I could have been working on my fanfics but just didn't feel like it. You'll be happy to know that I've been working on this chapter continuously for the past two weeks. I can't promise to have this updated soon as I want to update Along Came A Symbiote, as I'm sure the fans of that story are ticked enough. Anyway I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. **


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